With Markanday not making the bench with Sigurdsson, Ennis and Telalovic all to return its not looking that promising for Markanday. Would like to see Gilesenan and Garrett get game time today. Bith deserve it I think.

Woohoo, called it.... Though till we start not sure who will be in midfield and who up top out of Moran and Szmodics.

After playing a counter attacking 442 till the subs against Watford think we will go back to a possession based 433. Team for me : Pears Brittain. Carter. Hyam. Pickering Travis. Wharton. Moran Hedges. Gallagher. Szmodics Would bring Moran into midfield to let Szmodics replace Dolan up top.

Yes, we have a strange combination of being very offensive with how many players we commit forward when we attack but dont actually pull the trigger as much as you would expect. I think part of that is we are lacking a proper central striker to get on the end of moves, but also some hesitantcy seems to be intentional. Trying not to shoot unless we have a decent sighting at goal. I guess the thinking is to not turn the ball over cheaply and get done on the counter? Personally I think we should shoot on sight a bit more. Number of times recently weve been in strong positions but elected to pass rather than shoot .

Yeah, totally agree. From my perspective JDT is the most offensive coach we've ever had (watching since 1992), we regularly commit 6 to 8 players to an attack. Travis is regularly getting to the byline with JRC in the box, while Carter and Hyam are on the half way line or even higher etc... Whats interesting is we play in this ultra offenssive way but we dont seem to concede that many guilt edged chances to the opposition. We drop back into shape deep very well.

Missed this game live so just got round to watching the full 90 back on Rovers TV. Sickener to lose at the end but the overall performance was exceptional even before considering going down to ten men so early. Think this performance makes me more optimistic for our season than either the wins against WBA or Watford.

Oh yeah, totally forgot Buckley played right back. Did it okay in a few cameos in 20/21 I think? Could happen if we are short at RB.

Dont see how Dolan plays full back? Poor in air, lacks pace, and his defensive game is all about pressing and closing - not something you can do much at full back where holding good position is paramount.

Buckley will start for sure. Can see Moran starting as well to start integrating him into the team. And probs more 433 that 4231. Reckon it will be Wahlstadt Brittain Gamble. Wharton. Batty Buckley Tronstad. Garrett Markanday. Leonard. Moran

Ah yes youre right, Duff got games before we were relegated. More culpably I totally forgot about Jones. TBH hard to argue Wharton is as good as Jones was as by a year younger than Wharton he completely marked Drogba out of a game and was obviously going to play at the highest level.

What I really like about him is hes also pretty good at tackling and breaking up play. Made quite a few interceptions and got his foot in. While not as aware of danger as Travis hes probably as effective defensively as any midfielder weve had in a long time. I wouldnt be particularly worried if Travis was injured in playing Wharton and Buckley or Wharton and JRC together. Think we're at the point now where we can confidently say hes our best academy product since Duff. Whether hes going to be as good or better than Duff or Dunn is hard to say till he gets to the Premier League. On technical quality he looks a future england international to me, but looking at the frankly ridiculous size and athleticism of prem midfielders today I do wonder if he will be able to mix it with them. Reckon he will get a shot one way or another though.

For me Rhodes was an exception due to his absolutely sensational finishing ability and movement. Even with that plenty (including me) thought his poor all round game was a major issue. After Rhodes I think pretty much every decent striker we have had or I have seen at other clubs is either quick or strong or good enough in the air to worry defenders. If you cant physically compete its really really hard to succeed at #9. It may ultimately be that leonard is more of a #10 than a #9. But the kssue there is we have quite a few #10s already in the squad. I do however absolutely agree we need somone who can make those central runs, just that person also needs to be able to put a cb on his arse either through pace or strength.

BTW with Dolan - is it just me or has he bulked up a lot and while physically stronger seems to have lost a lot of the nimbleness that was his main asset?

Not sure myself. A couple of decent layoffs and nice movement but just doesnt have anything in his locker to worry a defender one on one. Im often wrong about players, hope I am here, but struggling to see how he becomes a goal threat. Maybe a fox in the box but dont think anyones been able to carry one of those since about 2005. To play CF you need to be able to lead the line and Leonard looks absolutely miles off that

Fabulous result, though in truth after quite an even first half Watford were well on top second half. A moment of Messi/Maradona/Ronaldinho magic from hedges and some brilliant defending got the result. Im very happy with our team except CF and wide left. Hopefully Sigurdsson is the real deal on the left. If we can just find that central striker....

It's pleasing to see Scott Wharton 21/22 model is back.

Hedges is the player for me who can have that sudden transformation in his career like BBD and Armstrong and turn into a top Championship player. Got all the ingredients, just rarely fits them together. Hopefully today is the start of doing it more regularly!

Decent gk, defensive, centre midfield performance, and hedges has done well on the right. Szmodics has been wasteful but looked effective. Leonard and Dolan offered very little. Wonder if Markanday and Gallagher may come on as there is a lot of space on the counter and their pace could be useful.

Bloxham and Gamble on bench. I dont really know much about them. What are their positions? Surprised given previous exposure it wasn't Gilsenan and Batty who are on the bench.

I also think we will go 352. Could be a bit different though with any of Ennis, Tronstad, Garrett, Brittain getting game time

This early in the game better to let them score

I hate an early red card more than anything in football. Makes the rest of the game miserable.

How did the red happen?

JDTs pattern is that he doesn't tend to like dropping players too quickly, and once youre in you get a few games. Markanday dropped today. Reckon if Leonard struggles today and Ennis does well coming on then next week they could swap over.

Its maybe a bit of a patronising cliché but every time I watch womens football (just the major international tournaments) Im blown away by how much it has improved. Goals today have been sublime. Loved the little reverse pass for our third.