I DON’T usually gamble, but I have a cup of coffee riding on a special bet I have made with Midweek sports editor Dave Peters – and it’s a wager I desperately hope to lose.

Early in the season, I was dismayed to see how wretched Wycombe Wanderers were playing and told Dave they were sure to go down from League One.

He insisted they had far too much quality in the side and was certain they would survive.

So we bet each other one cup of the brew of our choosing from our deluxe coffee machine in the office on the outcome of the Blues’ relegation battle. I pessimistically said they’d go down; Dave said they would stay up.

Now of course a 20p cup of coffee may not seem a princely prize, but our professional reputations as football pundits rest on this, and it has assumed crucial importance.

Every week after every sorry Wanderers result, I have marched up to the sports desk without fail and said to Dave: “Why don’t you just go and get the coffee for me now and get the whole thing over with?”

But then I went to the Walsall game and saw how well the team were playing under new boss Gary Waddock. It was possibly the most depressing soccer experience of my life, because Blues played brilliant attacking football – the type of stuff fans demand from their clubs.

They were entertaining, flowing and skilful and soon swept into a 2-0 lead. The crowd was ecstatic and it was a joyous experience – until inexplicably, the useless and dour Walsall side swept in three second half goals and won the game.

The body language of the crowd afterwards told it all. Supporters walked out with their shoulders hunched, shaking their heads in bewildered depression.

Waddock had given us what we wanted, and yet still the Gods of football weren’t having it.

I felt so bad for him and the team that I was now desperate to lose the coffee bet.

But with Wanderers second from bottom and several points adrift of safety, I still sadly look like I am backing a winner.

Nevertheless, Dave Peters has maintained his optimism against the odds, and I hope he knows something I don’t.

Tonight (Tuesday), I will return to Adams Park for the first time since that Walsall horror to see Wanderers play Southampton.

And I will be cheering on Waddock’s men because the coffee prize is one cup I really don’t want to win.

And tell you what, Dave, if Wycombe do survive, I’ll now be happy to buy you a whole jar of the stuff.