On Tuesday we played out a 0-0 away at Newport that won’t live long in the memory. However a point on the road and a change of tactic and personnel, is no bad thing.
When the teams were announced, we saw a change of formation, leading to a couple of changes to the line-up. Guthrie and Norman were reintroduced to the starting line-up to allow Facey and Sinclair, both ho have struggled with injury, chance to rest. But the one we hadn’t seen for a while, was Jules.
DC said that he knew that Newport would put balls in the box, and given our recent set-piece mishaps, Jules was logical to bring in, a stronger, more packed defence was needed. With the weather and the pitch being difficult to really get the ball down and play on, then the likes of McDonald, Nolan, and to an extent, Holden would have been ineffective, so it is no surprise that they didn’t start. Overall, I understand every change, and it worked too, yes we didn’t get the win, but a clean sheet away at a team that are strong in the areas we are vulnerable, is a good shift from the boys.
All too often we have changed players and formations, and it hasn’t worked. Despite us not looking at all threatening, we were solid, and our defence was well drilled, which given how leaky we have been in recent games, it is a huge positive to take.
Before Saturday, we had conceded at least 2 goals a game in our last 5 matches, however this week, against teams above us, it’s 1 in 2. We will no doubt see more tinkering between now and the end of the season, hopefully for DC to test different players, formations, combinations etc etc.
The only thing I want to see, is us being well drilled in whatever we do, like Tuesday.
Photo Cred. Express and Star
