Fair result on reflection. Neither team did enough to deserve the win. They’ve improved a lot, still solid at the back but Foristieri and Aarons do give them a little bit more zip in the final third. Bannan and Hutchinson will always be competitive in the middle and get amongst it. They’re still not great to watch, but I see then winning more than they lose in the run in.
I think we dropped a bollock playing Madine tonight. We played pretty well in the first 10-15 mins and looked to have a foothold and a bit of control over the match. Then Wednesday etched their way back into it, the crowd got up and all of the sudden we began to panic. They tightly pressed our receivers in midfield and our defenders just kept lobbing it up to Madine. I think derby nerves maybe played a part, but it was disappointing to see us playing long ball so often. We’re usually so much better with the ball.
The game was crying out for McGoldrick as early as Half Time and I think Wilder left it a little too late to make the change. Duffy too, probably would have been a better shout than Dowell but I’m making that call with benefit of hindsight.
We probably only played our style of football for a 10 minute period, 75-85 mins approx (almost as soon as McG came on) and you could feel us building towards a goal. The home crowd were nervous but we didn’t quite create the opening.
Shout out to Henderson (8), Basham (8), Egan (8.5), O’Connell (8.5) and Cranie (8.5) who I thought were excellent tonight.
Freeman (5.5) tired badly again, we could really do with Baldock back. Stevens (6.5), Dowell (6) and Madine (6) also all not at their best tonight.
Norwood (6.5), Sharp (6.5) and Fleck (7) all worked hard and competed but didn’t provide us with the quality they are capable of.
