Following a hard-fought, but fortunate 2-2 draw at Peterborough United, tomorrow night’s home match against AFC Wimbledon looks a lot easier on paper. After all, a struggling side that only has one point in three league games - and only avoided relegation last season by goal difference – looks a more welcoming prospect than Sunderland and Peterborough. Further promise for Town comes by the fact that the Dons’ only point of campaign, acquired last match, was down to them blowing a 1-0 lead against a 10-men Accrington Stanley side.
So tomorrow night will provide an interesting first look at whether we can take the initiative in home games when we come up against a difficult, defensive, and direct ‘little name’ team. With home games against the likes of Shrewsbury and Tranmere coming up over the next month, these are matches where we need to have enough about us to break down teams coming to Portman Road and happy to play for a point. Wally Downes’ Dons side won’t win plaudits for their style of play, but considering they were considered dead certs for relegation when Downes came in mid-way through the season, their late season recovery was a surprise to many in this division. They shouldn’t be underestimated.
Based on our first three league matches, a struggling display against Peterborough was arguably bettered by a dominant, but misfiring, draw at home to Sunderland and a fortunate, scrappy 1-0 away win at Burton. Clearly, if we’re going to be consistent promotion contenders, we need to eradicate the impression that we have one or two key defensive mistakes in us per game. Another early concern is our lack of clear on-pitch strategy and patterns of play. Lambert appears content to set us up in two banks of four, hit long balls up to the two strikers, and hope we win games by having the better players, on paper. We may struggle to break down teams by continuing with this approach.
With Kane Vincent-Young in through the door, and it arguably being too soon to throw him into first-team football, the team will likely look like what we’ve fielded before. Not that I’d agree with that. Regarding the score, this looks like it should be a comfortable home win – although nothing would surprise me with this lot. I’ll opt for a cagey 2-0 win. As for the starting eleven, we probably won’t see it, but I’d opt for an attacking:
Holy
KVY / Chambers / Wolfenden / Kenlock
Downes / Huws
Rowe / Judge / Edwards
Norwood
So tomorrow night will provide an interesting first look at whether we can take the initiative in home games when we come up against a difficult, defensive, and direct ‘little name’ team. With home games against the likes of Shrewsbury and Tranmere coming up over the next month, these are matches where we need to have enough about us to break down teams coming to Portman Road and happy to play for a point. Wally Downes’ Dons side won’t win plaudits for their style of play, but considering they were considered dead certs for relegation when Downes came in mid-way through the season, their late season recovery was a surprise to many in this division. They shouldn’t be underestimated.
Based on our first three league matches, a struggling display against Peterborough was arguably bettered by a dominant, but misfiring, draw at home to Sunderland and a fortunate, scrappy 1-0 away win at Burton. Clearly, if we’re going to be consistent promotion contenders, we need to eradicate the impression that we have one or two key defensive mistakes in us per game. Another early concern is our lack of clear on-pitch strategy and patterns of play. Lambert appears content to set us up in two banks of four, hit long balls up to the two strikers, and hope we win games by having the better players, on paper. We may struggle to break down teams by continuing with this approach.
With Kane Vincent-Young in through the door, and it arguably being too soon to throw him into first-team football, the team will likely look like what we’ve fielded before. Not that I’d agree with that. Regarding the score, this looks like it should be a comfortable home win – although nothing would surprise me with this lot. I’ll opt for a cagey 2-0 win. As for the starting eleven, we probably won’t see it, but I’d opt for an attacking:
Holy
KVY / Chambers / Wolfenden / Kenlock
Downes / Huws
Rowe / Judge / Edwards
Norwood
