Southampton done it, i cant remember if it was automatically or through the playoffs though. This was the squad they had in League 1. Kelvin Davis Frazer Richardson Dan Harding Jose Fonte Danny Seaborne Dean Hammond Adam Lallana Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Morgan Schneiderlin Richard Chaplow Rickie Lambert Lee Barnard Bartosz Bialkowski, Ryan Dickson, Radhi Jaidi, Jason Puncheon, Guly Nicholas Bignall Its no wonder they got back to back promotions.
We can do it, I don't see anything to be scared of from the other three teams. We might not do it but I am sure we will enjoy the journey
Agree. Every time we lose another player, or we drop points I wonder if it's just a game too far. Seeing us line up with a back 3 of Hume-O'Nien-Gooch at the start of the 2nd half terrified me, but look what happened There is nothing to fear - that's not arrogance, just genuine belief - not one of the other teams in the Play Offs worry me. We've taken points off all of them. Our away form is so good I think we only need to avoid defeat on Sat and we are through. I can't see us losing at Kenilworth Rd Would be a mighty advantage if Ballard is back. Someone said Cirkin left Deepdale in a moon boot(!)
I'm thinking along the same lines. I think that the way we've ended in the play-offs falls into our hands again. Playing Luton away in the second leg will suit us down to the ground - we'll know exactly what we have to do to get to Wembley and the pressure should all be on them with them finishing 3rd in the league
Wonder if Mowbray would consider bringing Huggins into the fray for Sat? If Cirkin is out (which seems very likely) then we may have to take a gamble on a few players... Patterson Hume Ballard O'Nien Huggins Ekwah Neil Roberts Amad Clarke Gelhardt Subs: Bass, Anderson, Taylor, Michut, Pritchard, Lihadji, Ba On the assumption Gooch is out. Play him instead of Huggins if possible. Feels like Ballard might be a big risk, but we are getting to the point where there is genuinely no-one else Worst case scenario and we are looking something like: Patterson Hume O'Nien Anderson Roberts Ekwah Pritchard Neil Clarke Amad Gelhardt
I don't think we'll do it, but it's certainly possible. Our back line is completely decimated and I don't think Ballard or Huggins will be ready to play on those games (even if they end up doing so). We may well end up playing with a back 3 of Anderson, O'Nien and Hume which will be a step too far in my opinion. Strangely, Luton are one of the only teams with a better away record than us this season. The away team will be the favourites in both games. It'll be amazing if we do go up, but I also think this achievement can galvanize this team for next season and give them the belief that we can win the league. It could even be that the extra Championship season is the making of some of these players - shades of 98/99. Whatever happens, it's been a memorable season and there's every confidence that we'll be even better next year.
