At the beginning of the week, I said I would be happy with two points from Bristol City and Swansea City. We already have three, and now we have the chance to head into the international break with something even better.
Back-to-back away wins at Preston and Bristol City have changed how these games feel. Somewhere along the way, perhaps at Deepdale, perhaps at Ashton Gate, we stopped looking at Championship opposition as something to be frightened of and started looking at them as teams we might actually beat.
That does not mean we should suddenly be talking about finishing in the top ten. If somebody had offered us a place just above the bottom three going into the break, plenty of us would have taken it, because we would certainly take that at the end of the season. Instead, we are looking at a side that belongs at this level, with players who are growing into it every week.
There is a temptation to call Swansea a free hit, that awful phrase which lasts until the players walk out and you realise you desperately want to win again. They are flying, they have some excellent footballers, and this will be another proper test. However, I am not sitting here expecting us to lose.
It reminds me of that thing The Rock used to do, asking somebody a question before cutting across their answer with, “It doesn’t matter!” I was looking through Swansea’s players for their starting XI piece and found myself thinking along those lines. Six months ago, some of those names might have worried me; now, they are another eleven players facing our eleven players.
The difficult bit is choosing ours. As ever, this is a mixture of what I think Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw will do and what I would like them to do, because there are a couple of selections where preference takes over from prediction.
George Wickens
This barely needs a discussion, does it? George is our number one, and if he is fit, he plays. That is no slight on Joe Gauci, but I would be perfectly happy to see George start all 46 league games.
He looks better every season. There were moments last year when a ball came into the area and I found myself hoping somebody else would deal with it, with Luton away springing to mind, but I feel much more confident now. Those little steps in his development have added up, and he looks like a Championship goalkeeper.
I think he would remain one even if we went down. That is how highly I rate him now, and there is no reason to change anything between the sticks.
Deji Elerewe
I have a funny feeling we might be watching somebody who could turn out to be the best central defender we have ever had. That is a huge statement when you think about Trevor Peake, Steve Thompson, Sam Ellis and some of the other outstanding defenders who have worn our shirt. I know what company I am putting him in, but I think he is different class. I would be surprised if people were not looking very closely at him by January.
Meeting him at the pre-match press conference only added to that impression. He is a huge lad, but quiet, softly spoken and seemingly humble, with something about the way he carries himself that is every bit as impressive as his football.
At the start of the season, would everybody have put him in our best back three? With Tom Hamer, Sonny Bradley, Andrei Coubis and Ryley Towler to consider, I am not sure they would. Ask the same question now, and I suspect Deji is the first defender most of us write down.
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