As suspected Ayite is out, with another hamstring injury. And Piazon , although now training, isn't ready yet. In his press conference today the Gaffer however left us dangling about the rest of the squad saying, "there are question marks around some other players who we will observe.” Millwall will be fairly packed at the back and will stuff the midfield. Not because that's de rigour for teams coming to the Cottage these days, rather that's their normal style. They rely on long balls and set pieces to create a threat. By no means should we underestimate them, especially on those set pieces. The returning Messrs Tunnicliffe and Hutchinson will surely, also have a point to prove. For us, can only speculate on who Jokanovic is talking about. Possibly McDonald who was a surprise sub and Ojo, who may have suffered after quite some shift, on Tuesday? And Johansen with the recurring groin? Going to be optimistic though and suggest that the only real question marks are the Goalkeeper and Centre Forward. Really believe it's right for Button to be 'rested'. He has reverted to his old bad habits in recent games and currently gives the back four no confidence. Up front, interchanging and pace paid dividends against Sheffield United and it's likely the Gaffer will want to keep that going. Obviously he has to adjust because of Ayite being out, so Kebano ahead of Fonte and Kamara is the probable decision. Kind of an aside. Mollo played for the U23s this afternoon and while neither Soares or Graham did, think we can rule all three out of the starting line up. ......................Bettinelli.............. ..Fredericks..Kalas..Ream..Odoi.. .....................McDonald.. ..........Cairney............Norwood... .....Kebano........Ojo.......Sessegnon.. With "The Wall", as Kamara appears to be named among his cult following, coming on as an impact sub.
Ooops! Could the Gaffer be shuffling things around? In a later interview he said “The spaces we found against Sheffield United, we’re not going to find against Millwall at home. We must play with patience, create space between the lines, attack behind and in wide positions. We must open our minds and interpret and understand what we find. This will be a different game to Sheffield United and we’ll need a different plan.” To add to the mix, a raft of youngsters trained with the main squad today; Edun, Kait, de la Torre, Steven Sessegnon and O'Riley. Most likely obfuscation though and we'll see the expected.
The man up today is Paul Tierney. please log in to view this image The Happy Blower is another one who hails from Wigan and keeps himself fit by pounding its streets on cold damp evenings. He mainly works in the Premiership these days but to keep his hand in has done 4 Championship games this season. Including our 2-0 away win against Ipswich. In the four games he's handed out 13 yellows but fluctuates between a wodge (5 or 6) and one card (as happened in our game).
A clean sheet and a win at home No idea how good or bad the game was, will wait for one of you guys to give your thoughts on it. Just glad to get another 3 points on the board.
Sounds like we ground out a result, phew! Highlight of the FFCTV commentary was that Mrs 2 and I got a mention from Jamie at half time, does that make us famous or what!! COYW
Don't know about famous 2 whites but definitely more noteworthy than the players today. First half we had usual 68% possession but few real threats on their goal. Being 1-0 nil ahead at half time was probably about right. Definitely didn't disagree with the gaffer subbing Johansen at the break. However the sub he brought on and his subsequent subs were all wrong. And instead of pushing on in the second half we were all over the place. Difficult, frustrating and very nervy when you're a fan and spend 45 plus minutes hanging on to a 1-0 ... against Millwall for goodness sake. Still like everyone else guess I'm happy with 7 points in a week. a clean sheet AND a home win. Well, actually not really ... 'cos of those subs and a very poor second half. Boy did we miss 'Captain' McDonald today!
Not able to get to today's game, so could someone give me their player rating opinion . Thanking in anticipation
The game will be remembered for the 3 pts, Cottager. I feel the fame has already been hit by the delete button (used to be tomorrows chip paper but everyone died using that, apparently).
