This is also a decent outcome of this draw.
It’s harsh on those players but a potential positive for the league campaign.
Obviously it will be super-knackering with all the adrenaline and especially for those in midfield.
Having missed out they will be extra determined to make their mark on the season.
Having two players fit in the engine room and raring to go removes a managerial headache and forces us to rotate the squad effectively. We just need to find one more body in there.
We still have options hopefully by then to rotate at full back and you’d like to think we still can pick a fresh central defence with 3 from Anel, Bash, Egan, Clark and Robbo.
Up front one of Jebbo, Ndiaye and McBurnie will possibly miss out as a starter at Wembley so they should be relatively fresh.
Might be the best thing for the league though a midfield of Norwood, Fleck and Berge as a trio is past its best.
Agree that there may actually be a silver lining to how the fixture falls in our run-in.
The semi-final falls bang in the middle of 4 home games. We play Cardiff and Bristol City at the Lane in the week before Wembley and then WBA and PNE in the week afterwards.
We’ll be able to deploy our newly found ‘front foot midfield’ to break down Cardiff and Bristol City, then give them a week to rest before they are needed again for 2 more home games.
As for the semi-final, clearly some of the old heads will have to come in, but that might not be an altogether bad thing.
Styles make matches and I don’t necessarily subscribe to the widespread view that we are bound to get hammered. If anything, our kryptonite is energetic athletic, spoiling teams, hence our poor return against the likes of Rotherham and Luton. Footballing sides, at least at our level, haven’t caused as much difficulty- after all we smashed 5 past Burnley.
As brilliant as Man City are, they can look laboured - albeit whilst having 80% possession - against sides that don’t over-commit.
If you go on the front-foot against them, they can destroy you, of course. That is what Burnley tried to do after they fell behind - basically playing the same way that they have whilst tearing up the Championship.
Without McAtee and Doyle, we’re unlikely to be that expansive and open.
It would be nice to see Ndiaye get a chance to dribble at those Man City defenders too, as I’m not sure that they’re that secure - they just don’t have to do that much defending. We’d have to get the ball first, though…
