MARK Devlin faces another painful operation to remove pins from his back, but six months on from the accident that almost claimed his life he is at least grateful that he's made a round easier for golfers at the crash site!

Town's now former chief executive says a sense of humour is part of the healing process, that and the tremendous level of good wishes and support he continues to enjoy from the Town faithful.

He said: "I've another operation coming up to remove the pins but thankfully I think all of us (involved in the crash) are making recoveries.

"I was looking forward to getting back to playing five-a-side football with friends on a Monday night but the op will put that back for a while sadly."

When Bill Power spoke for the first time about the plane crash of August 5, he said one of the factors in helping him through a terribly dark time was the messages of support from Town fans, many of whom he had never met and didn't know.

Devlin feels exactly the same way.

He said: "Inevitably there are moments where you think why us?' but the messages, the cards and the like really help.

"Like Bill said, I think the level of support shown by fans has been overwhelming and I'll always be incredibly grateful for that."

Coming within a fraction of death is no laughing matter but Devlin hopes members at the golf club which hosted' the crash will at least be grateful.

He said: "The air crash investigation people said we can probably thank an oak tree for our survival.

"The plane hit the tree before hitting the ground so obviously the tree absorbed the initial impact. Had the plane gone straight into the ground, well, I think it would have been different.

"Still I'd like to think the people at the golf club would be erecting a statue of Bill, Stan, myself and Mike to say thanks for removing that tree and making that hole easier to conquer!"

Meanwhile, Town were poised to announce that the County Ground will host the England women's team in a World Cup warm-up fixture next month.

n BARNSLEY midfielder Brian Howard believes rivals Leeds - managed by ex-Town boss Dennis Wise - could have left it too late to escape the drop.

"It's surprised everybody how much Leeds have struggled this season," said the former Swindon man.

"It doesn't matter how big a club is, or how many internationals there are in the team, if you get on a downward spiral and start losing regularly it's difficult to stop the rot."