When BWFC first announced today's lineup my heart immediately sank. No Ream, Mills, N'Gog, Eagles and a bench full of young hopefuls looking to break into the main team. It's a little disconcerting how with just a few injuries, how thin our squad really looks. It really hit home when Marc Iles twitted the very same thing. Indeed, was my reply, where are the goals going to come from?
From Mavies, or so I thought.
Defense was also a worry, with Knight as our only CB, we had Ricketts covering for the absent Ream/Mills, with Alonso playing LB. No wonder then at just 10 minutes in Crewe where one up. Just a few minutes later and Knight pulls up, Crewe should really be two up, and our squad is now seriously lacking in center backs.
It took an on form Petrov and a harsh penalty to put Bolton back on level terms. Petrov seemed to shine today, a floodlight to that of his team mates flickering candles.
I was a little surprised when SKD came off and Pratley was playing the lone striker for around 20 minutes, before Eaves was finally brought on at around the 87 minute mark. Just why Pratley of all people/midfielders was up front for that amount of time (and on his own) is beyond this simple layman's mind. I just hope this isn't part of OC game plan for the season and just down to the lack of players available today.
So another draw. What troubles me, more than the winning or losing, is the lack of goals we are scoring. We seem to create an abundance of chances from all over the pitch and through set pieces, yet seem to be converting very few. Will this change once N'Gog and Sordell are available again? Is it just a case of needing more game time, if so, how much more?
We also seems to be conceding goals all to easily and often against the run of play (so what's new there?). Is this due to players switching off, the BWFC tradition of backing off when really we should be getting stuck in? Maybe our wingers need to get back quicker and help out the full backs, especially Petrov on the left as both Alonso and Ricketts like to attack and can struggle getting back at times.
Are we heading for another difficult season, or will we be able to solve these preseason niggles and worries before the start of the season in August?
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