Indeed it should be the biggest concern as it has most of the season.
Whilst my own preference is Basham in midfield, Clough appears to be trying to settle Basham and Brayford into an emergency partnership and would expect them to play on Saturday v Chesterfield. It was noticeable last season that Clough never seemed to rest the defence once it got settled.
I would expect same as Orient of Freeman, Basham, Brayford and Harris now fit.
Freeman seems much better at RB and Harris brings us balance.
We also have to put Doyle and Coutts in front of the back 4.
The concern AGAIN was we conceded from a simple ball into the box - the replay suggests Baxter was ball watching, but once again our Achilles heal let us down.
UTB
Agree with all of that Fullers but I thought it was Davies that left his man for the headed goal from the corner.
That is the main concern for me - conceding from set pieces.
Not sure Swindon pose as much of a threat in that area but if they get their passing game going then they can put in a devastating goal scoring spell. Having said that, they are definitely vulnerable at the back and prone to a series of errors, especially if harassed and pressed (like MKD did to them) which is why I believe that Done would be critical in that kind of scenario.
If MKD get the better of the results on Sunday, next and we slip up against Chesterfield at home then it's Preston that will concern us. They may be hugely deflated but they have beaten us in a cup match this season and are a strong team at set pieces, so if it's them then I suspect that is where we would falter.
MKD - again if we lose to Chessie - will probably deploy the same spoiling tactics in a two legged affair as they did in the league. Robinson knows that if his side lets us play then we can do some damage but if they contain us then the pressure will mount and the crowd will cease to have any positive effect. They are effective at stopping goals and they can have a spell where they can score 2 or 3 in the space of 10 mins.
Having said that I have a major concern about our defence keeping set pieces at bay my observation is that we are losing games in midfield as we are not tracking the runners nor imposing ourselves enough going forwards in the centre of the pitch. Coutts is improving but slowly yet I am not convinced he has the fitness to boss a midfield to the extent that we need (such as Baker, the ex Cov man, does for MKD). Baxter has his moments but is not a 90 minute player and his concentration - if not his work ethic - let's him and us down regularly - he can be a match winner but he can also be a liability.
Not one of our side got into the League 1 team of the season selection - That tells you all you need to know about the stability of the line up and the consistency of performances this season. We are still a team in the process of formation - i.e. not a team but a collection of reasonably talented individuals. It is probably that aspect that has created the symptoms highlighted above and that aspect that poses the greatest threat to failure.
If we get Swindon I think we can get to the final. If we get any of the other two, despite Preston having a downer at missing out on automatic if that's the way it pans out, I believe we will falter at the semi stage.
The final is a one off. It's probably the only aspect of this that our recent cup pedigree will assist us. Big game experience, the large pitch will suit our game (although I think if it's MKD it might suit their non-spoiling game as well). so who knows in that one? The trepidation I have is that we will freeze again since the prize is great and the cost of failure is immense. We weren't expected to beat Hull City last time out so the weight of expectation was off us - perhaps that is why we turned up that day - a play off final could be altogether different.
Just thinking about another play off final brings back all the feelings of previous disappointments. I can feel the gut wrenching emptiness welling up when I dwell on it a little.
Isn't it about time we were able to suppress that fucker once and for all?
