I had a wild and foolish thought on Saturday morning.

In a mad moment, I convinced myself that we could win the last three games of the season in the Championship.

But then, just a few hours later, I saw the team Mick McCarthy had picked for the game at Rotherham United, and I realised I was wrong.

Yes, our manager had ignored a golden opportunity to build momentum, and recreate goodwill, by picking a League Cup team – and getting a League Cup result.

No problem with making four or five changes. Of course not, in a game which was meaningless for both teams.

But why on earth pick what was essentially a reserve team?

What do you get when you throw together a bunch of fringe players and youngsters? A poor performance and a defeat.

All that feelgood factor created by the Newcastle United game has gone, just like popping a balloon.

Once again, the manager has shown huge disregard for the fans – especially the 700 or so loyalists who made the long trip up north to South Yorkshire.

So, instead of basking in the glory of winning three games in a row, we’ve had a miserable weekend of recriminations and embarrassment after losing to utterly hopeless Rotherham.

Being hard-nosed about it, Saturday’s result against the already-relegated Millers certainly won’t help to sell season tickets.

Ending the season with a feelgood factor would definitely have persuaded some of the waverers to give it a go.

Statistically, we remain in grave danger of this being our worst season in 60 years, since those far-off days when we escaped from Third Division South under the inspirational leadership of Alf Ramsey.

Anyway....I guess we’ll go back to a full-strength line-up for the next two games, with so much resting on them for both Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest.

Let’s hope we can get that feelgood factor back.

Then, this awful season will finally be over and at some point in the summer we will have the answers to the big questions – McCarthy’s future and how much owner Marcus Evans is prepared to spend.