The Defence

When Michael Appleton stated that the dressing room felt a bit like Dad’s Army, he was surely talking about the defence and the defensive midfield area. After all, we’ve not got a lot of older players outside of that area.

The defence is a little worrying at times, certainly towards the end of games. Watching the Ipswich goal back, as painful as it is, and there’s a host of chances to stop it occurring. One ball splits two players to find their winger, his ball isn’t blocked by Neal Eardley, the next pass could have been dealt with by Cian Bolger and as Judge gets the ball he’s in far too much space to be stopped. Who was to blame? Take your pick.

Now, it’s harsh to start pointing the finger at some players after what I feel was a good performance, but where are the potential changes that could be made at the back? Until Bozzy is back we’re limited to what we can do, with one place as secure as anything: Harry Toffolo. He’s committed, attack-minded as well as useful at the back and he’s got the legs to carry him through 90 minutes.

Across on the other side, I wonder if there might be a decision to make regarding Neal Eardley? I’m a big fan of Neal and have been for a long while, but I feel at times he’s getting done for pace at this level. Being a full back isn’t always about pace and he can still deliver a good cross, but he’s being used less and less on dead-ball situations. That’s a real shame because our set pieces have been ineffective of late, but if Neal isn’t on them then perhaps there’s some energy to be added at right back.

I’m not suggesting Neal is dropped for good; it would be naive to simply claim someone’s ‘time is up’ as I’ve seen about a few players recently. What I do wonder is if, against certain teams, a leggier and more attacking option might be Aaron Lewis. Watching him carve through the Everton midfield ahead of Bruno’s goal gives me hope he might be an important addition to our arsenal. Sadly, Bruno’s goal against Everton was the last time a player other than Tyler or Big John scored at home.

Then we move on to the central defensive pairing. I’m not sure we have a problem as such; teams concede goals and our record is decent, home and away. In fact, only Oxford have scored against us at home in open play this season in the league, suggesting we don’t have too much of a problem.  do wonder if Jason Shackell is one season over his League One capability at times, but then we defended really well until the last moments of the game this weekend. Callum Connolly did very well when he came in and I thought Cian played well on Wednesday night. With our record, it seems mad to say ‘there’s not much wrong’ at the back, but there really isn’t. My big worry is switching off late on; that’s down to experience and the back four as a whole have to work on it.

 Next Page – The Midfield