Pearce still harbouring UEFA hopes?

It doesn't appear that I've missed a great deal over the past week whilst I've been unable to post.

Of most interest though was Stuart Pearce stating that he still believes we have an opportunity to snatch a UEFA qualification place.

"I still definitely feel there is a chance of qualifying for Europe," said Pearce. "At this stage last season, most people would have said we had absolutely no chance of qualifying for Europe but it is amazing how one result can change the situation.
If we win our game against Middlesbrough and other results go for us this weekend, suddenly we will be back within touching distance again.
While there are points to be fought for, we should realistically look at it and say why not? We have enough opportunity to win any of our remaining games and that is what we should aim to do."

As I posted after the Portsmouth game when I felt that our UEFA hopes had disappeared, I believe it will take 62 or 63 points to qualify. We are currently sat on 40 points with seven games remaining so of course it is not mathematically possible to achieve it.

This is the table as it currently stands:

Games Points
Arsenal 8 50
Bolton 9 48
Wigan 7 46
West Ham 7 45
Everton 7 43
Charlton 7 42
City 7 40

Nothing has happened to change my opinion that it will take 62 or 63 points to qualify, and our current form is clearly the poorest of any of the sides chasing the UEFA positions. The difference last year is that we built some momentum on the back of Pearce taking over and the total number of points to qualify for the UEFA Cup were less than required this season.

Our recent form (particularly our away form) has killed off any marginal hopes of UEFA qualification and perhaps it is more a case of Pearce trying to get the squad motivated and focused for the remaining games of the season.