We welcome Burton to the Meadow today. Lawrence is carded so not playing, Mangan should be fit, Passley joins the squad and I guess might start and Gayle needs to fight to secure his place instead. Can Collins get to 15 goals by Crimbo? Can Vernon get a goal by Crimbo? Stick thoughts and reports below. Floreat Salopia.
a great win against a top 4 team, doubt if town will have a more difficult home league game. and to have the ball delivered by helicopter. I bet that caused a racket. preston won away 2-0 at preston. that is little guide to our next cup game . well done town, this was a must win as all top 7 won. town 3rd 2 points off lead and 30 goals in 19 games
Passley did well. Stats on BBC are interesting - Burton Albion 0 shots on target 0 shots on goal. Their number 11 did a hard job keeping Woods quiet. We still need better balls from Woods and others forward.
I thought Woods and Wes...ski played well BUT had periods of the game when they were anonymous. More persistence/consistency please. The whole team plays better at a higher tempo. Collins petulance gains him nothing except the opprobrium of the ref.....if he cut it out he would get more decisions going his way. ......and he can still rough up defenders ....just don't react when they do! Thought the left defence showed real signs of working as a unit. Right side did nowt wrong just left looked better. Burton were without a couple of key players (including Sharps) but still tried to play football.....BUT there are harder teams out there who will test us more physically. This was not a dirty match so how the ref gave five yellows is anybody's guess BUT overall he tried to let the game flow. Again, quite a few dubious calls from linos. Still love the way Grandison recovers from mistakes....must be a gift. Lutweiler......he has a few problems with basic techniques.....rolled ball under foot a few times and it's not under control, too many kicks go straight into touch....he doesn't look a class act! Any comments please on his other performances? Maybe the defence is protecting him? Made a few comments on Passley under the Grimmer thread. Grant's weight of pass in the first half was woeful.....think he got one right. Second half he looked re-energised and had a couple of really great moves starting from his vision.....was he injured to come off? Mangan only went where Collins told him so did not contribute much but hey-ho a win's a win and there are real good things happening.
Burton were the best organised team we have seen this season and had to be worn down which we did in the end thanks to SCS being caught in possession in his own area. They absolutely marmalised Wycombe in the TV match 2 weeks ago, so it goes to show how decent our performance was. According to MM, Grant is still only 70% match fit.
Thanks for the Grant comment......thought there had to be a reason! Burton are good.....I watch them when I can't get to God's own county! Looking forward to the January return already.
Burton were the best organised team defensively we have seen at the Greenhous this year but did not seem to have a cutting edge so all credit to our defence after the nightmare of the second half at Exeter. I am still not convinced by Woods and Weso as a combo in midfield - they are very similar players and Woods had his worst game of the season as Burton were aware of his skill and ganged up on him. I have to disagree about Collins - not his greatest game but his aggression and persistence made the difference between the two teams in the end - Lawrence is much more indisciplined than Collins and always when he plays looks like a red card about to happen. Burton have turned over the league leaders twice in the last few weeks so the fact that we were clearly the better side (I cannot remember Leutwiler making a serious save) means our awesome home form continues. If we can combine that with a few more wins away we could be champions this season. Also thought Passley did well (especially first half) - perhaps not the blinding pace of Grimmer but possibly a better footballer. I will give Preston a miss but will take my son to Cambridge in a couple of weeks - he has been to three away games this season and seen two wins and a draw so I hope he can continue his run as a lucky mascot.
