L 2-1 vs Morecambe (A) - League 2, Sat 5th August, 3:00 pm

Given these new time keeping rules, I hope we are not still playing when the sun sets!

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Thanks for the update Andy.
I would then start Draper alongside DJ on Saturday. I’m looking forward to seeing those two work their magic.

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DJ & D-raper sounds a cool gig .

A D-rapper maybe - but a D-raper? :flushed: :flushed: :flushed:

I hope and pray that DJ has solved his family problems by then and got at least a couple of days on the training ground too.

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Confirmed by Sadler that Draper will miss the first two games.

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I’d start with DJ and Matt.
DJT has had an injury, Knowles is unavailable, Draper is suspended. We need 2 upfront and regardless of his pre-season performances Matt offers a presence and is someone who can challenge for high balls. Use Oteh as a sub for the last 30 mins.

Seems we are here already, with both Draper and Knowles missing the options feel very minimal.

It needs addressing.

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If we have a season like we did last season as regards injuries it will most certainly cause us problems.

Morecambe and Blackburn?

I expect that Matt will start on Saturday and really hope he comes good, but in the pre-season matches and last season the problem with Matt was that he did not really offer much of a presence. He did not use his height to challenge hard for the high ball in a way that would disconcert the defenders, and he was not involved in the action often enough.

Oteh and Draper both seemed to have a real appetite for the getting involved in battling for loose balls and harrying the defence. I am not saying that either of them has proved themselves yet, but they both presented more problems for the opposition than Matt.

According to Sadler, yes. He only served one of his 3 matches in Ireland.

At least he’ll be back for Stockport. I’d class Blackburn as a free hit and if we get anything from that it’ll be a bonus.

Problems? Had a kid hasn’t he? :joy:

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And you haven’t realised that new born children sometimes bring problems?

It does seem a bit off that he has missed the last 2 friendlies because of it, I get the first one if the birth was imminent or had just happened but not a week later. As a top player hopefully he can hit the ground running but he must have missed a fair chunk of the back end of pre-season, with Matt having had an indifferent pre-season it’s a real shame if neither of the in-form strikers Draper and Doug Taylor will be available.

Think more being made of this than should be. new arrival bit of time off spend with his family.more to life than Football I think .

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I guess he has taken the 2 weeks paternity as he is entitled to, and as I expect most would do tbh, but hopefully he may have done a bit of fitness / exercise in that time to keep him ticking over, even if it isn’t match practice or training.

We have DJ, DJT, Oteh and Matt to choose from on Saturday. What is it that needs addressing? I think we have more than enough as long as we don’t get multiple injuries.

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We have no RWB and we have very little cover in the midfield.

I am also looking at it from a quality perspective, it’s ok listing those players off but apart from DJ I am not to confident in the others.

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Well I think we are well covered everywhere except RWB and I think someone will be signed to cover that position. As for quality I cannot form a judgement yet. I think we are much better off than last season but whether that will be good enough over the season I just don’t know. I am awaiting the first few matches with interest.