• Nigel Adkins has been given the Tranmere job on a permanent basis signing until the end of the 25/26 season. Continue the discussion here.

FA Trophy Wrexham v Rovers

Boz

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Two schools of thought on this. Either we pick almost a full-strength side on the basis of going all out to win this competition or take the opportunity to play some fringe players and those returning from injury, accepting that this may reduce our prospects of advancing in the Trophy.

Personally, I favour the second option. We have an important fixture against Lincoln to follow, so would rather see key players kept out of the firing line here. Secondly, Wrexham are local rivals and despite current poor form won't ease up against us. That increases the risk of both injuries and dismissals, the referee appointed Mr Serrano appears a bit card-happy from previous outings too. Finally there are some players, who Micky hasn't seen in action and now would be as good a time as any.

Players I would like to see start;

Evan Gumbs either as full-back or in central defence. Hugely promising on debut at Luton just over two years ago, not really had a look-in since.
Adam Dawson needs the chance to develop confidence and match-fitness
Connor Jennings, recovered from injury, could play either at the tip of a midfield diamond or in the hole behind the front two.
There are also arguments for playing Ihiekwe in central defence and giving Mekki and possibly Almond a start too.

I would keep any key players at risk of suspension out of the mix. Don't think this amounts to many as believe yellow cards awarded from December start afresh and don't count towards a ban with earlier cards. So Hughes and perhaps Norwood on the sidelines. Also don't think Wallace should start this one, though no harm in a cameo from the bench.

Prediction: Should be a decent turnout 600-700 SWA at the Racecourse. I think even a Rovers side featuring some fringe players should have enough to overcome Wrexham.
 
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Boz, I could almost have written this myself, so thanks for saving me the trouble. I follow your argument and accept your analysis, except that I'd be tempted to give Wallace a full game if possible.

I'm not usually a fan of squad rotation and ideally we need to maintain momentum, but the squad is so large that the only way to get a good look at fringe players is to give them match practice. Wrexham will be up for this game, but now is probably the best time to play them. I rate most of our fringe players and have some confidence that most would take their chance and play well. If not, I won't cry much over a defeat.
 

Sparky

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Agree with BBTC. Boz's suggested players e.g. Dawson, Mekki and Connor J (if fit) should be given as much game as time as possible plus I'd also play Wallace from the start.

He's apparently been injury free for many weeks now and got some tackles in at Gateshead. We only have him for a limited period at the moment so I don't see why we can't give him the opportunity to play a full match or thereabouts. He should be chomping at the bit wanting the chance to show he is over his problems so I'd start him and maybe give him 70 mins or so.

Promotion is the priority by a mile but this is a chance to give some decent fringe players some game time against, lets face it, a fairly average Wrexham side albeit one that will be up for it after their Tuesday 3-0 home defeat to Macc.
 

Boz

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Suppose with Wallace I was being ultra-cautious as it would be great to have him as a starting option for Lincoln.

Connor J, the manager has made enough noises to suggest that, bar an unexpected relapse, he'll feature in this game. Don't think his namesake is ready yet though.

What's the situation re Ben Tollit? His loan was due to run out around now.
 
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Fortunately for us tollitt is available for Lincoln but his loan ends after that game.
 

Ian

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I think they'll be doing as much as possible to keep Tollitt until the end of the season.

Anyway, I agree that the fringe players will be getting a run out here. Wouldn't it be great to come back with a win and give those players a nice boost.

Having said that I won't be too disappponted if we lose.
 
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I would not put the dichotomy quite as Boz presents it. Rather than going all out to win the competition, I think we should just put a team out to win the next game. While I can understand the attraction in giving the fringe players like Almond and Mekki some time on the pitch, I would rather we used this game to get players who are firmly in Mellon's plans - Wallace, Dawson and possibly Connor Jennings - up to speed and ready for the league games ahead. Although they might not gel instantly, any side featuring those players plus some regulars should be good enough to beat a Wrexham team who have been desperately poor for much of the season. Wrexham seem to be particularly weak in midfield, so this could be a game that suits Wallace. I would certainly rest Ben Tollitt, who has been targeted by opposing teams in recent matches, to make sure he is fresh and available for the Lincoln game.

The formation we use will obviously depend on the starting personnel: Connor Jennings is obviously suited to a diamond formation, but it is difficult to see how Dawson would fit into a team that did not include natural wingers.

I can't imagine we will sell our full allocation, particularly with Lincoln on the horizon, but we should take 7-800 fans on Saturday. I don't like losing to Wrexham under any circumstances and hope that the team that is chosen is strong enough to see them off.
 

Boz

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Thinking on the formation issue, I'm unsure Dawson offers enough defensively in a midfield three, if we were to go 4312, with Connor Jennings as the man behind the front two, reputedly his best position. However in a 44(diamond)2 both he and Jennings could be accomodated. The situation with Maynard and Ridehalgh's fitness is unclear, but if there are any doubts, they should not start.
If we were to start with an xi something like the following, we should be able to get a result from the game.

Davies
Vaughan McNulty Sutton Gumbs
Wallace
Dawson Harris
Jennings C
Cook Mangan
 
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Ridehalgh and Maynard definitely won't play as they are not back in training until Monday. Watching Micky's interview I don't think Wallace is ready to start this game either, but Steve Jennings is travelling with the squad. So, in summary, I now have no idea what the team will be.
 
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This will certainly be controversial but wouldn't it be a good idea to give Luke Pilling a game soon? Iain Turner can't go on forever and Scott Davies may be undisputed no. 1 choice but he may get injured or suspended.
 

Boz

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I'm unsure, but think Luke may be out on loan atm. My preference would. have been to have him on the bench from the off this season and let Turner concentrate on his coaching role.

Call me negative, but I'm unsure Micky, for all of his many good points, has any greater commitment to youth development than Brabin. No disputing that the priority is getting out of this league, so can follow a risk aversion approach in league games. However if none of our youngsters are to get a chance in a game like this, when will they?
 
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I can see Boz's point regarding youth development, but the pressure on the Chairman and Manager to get back to the Football League is ridiculous and we can barely afford to lose a game if we are to finish as champions. I appreciate that has no direct relevance to tomorrow's game, but MM probably sees even that fixture as a chance to get senior players up to speed rather than experimenting with younger players. For better or worse, I think youth development at first team level has effectively been 'put on hold' for a couple of years. When we get back to a more respectable level I think the youngsters will get more opportunities.

On the positive side, when younger players are obviously exceptional - like Tollitt - Micky has not been afraid to give them key roles. Don't forget, Brabin was not interested in him sixteen months ago. Brabin would often also single out the younger squad members for criticism, Ihiekwe in particular, which is something MM does not do.
 
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Basically a full strength team but Jennings plays at the tip of the diamond in place of tollitt. Pleased about that.
 
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Almost full strength but should be good enough to win. Surprised Wallace doesn't start, as I thought he might be first choice.
 

Boz

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Winning at h/t. Surprised Dawson doesn't feature at all, even on the bench.
 
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First cup win for two years. Unbeaten run continues. Yet another 1-0 win. Both Jenningses back in action. Very satisfactory but await reports as it looked far from easy.
 

Sparky

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Nice to win and keep another clean sheet. Would have like Dawson or Wallace to have had some minutes though
 
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Sparky, Wallace played the final half hour.

A deserved victory for Rovers in a match that was far more comfortable than the scoreline suggests. We played a lot of decent football and controlled the game, other than a period of five or ten minutes at the end of the first half. Wrexham only had one opportunity of note in the whole match, Davies saving a point blank header from Jordan White just before the break. Other than that, they barely laid a glove on us while Rovers had several other good chances in both halves. The only slight concern is that we are not scoring more goals at the moment, with both Cook and Norwood looking a bit of out sorts at present. The back four were superb once again and Wrexham - who looked really average - did not really unsettle them all game.

Individually, I thought Connor Jennings looked really good on his comeback, with some excellent movement in the first half. Vaughan had a good game at right back and Wallace again played well in his cameo. However, my man of the match would again be Jeff Hughes who was a metronome with his passing in his sixty minutes on the pitch.

Tactically, we started out with a diamond formation, but switched to a kind of 4-4-1-1 with Harris just behind Norwood when Wallace and Tollitt came on. Our passing had been a bit ragged early in the second half, out Wallace settled us down again and we closed the game out comfortably. The best of our other chances fell to Harris, who should have made it two with only the keeper to beat in injury time.

Another professional performance and I am pleased we have finally won a cup tie. On to a bigger test at Lincoln next week.
 
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At least we are through. Dag & Red and Eastleigh lost to lower opposition, while FGR and Barrow struggled to earn a replay against tier 6 sides. The next round is on 12th January when no league games are scheduled.
 
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Hopefully we will draw a team from a lower division next. It would be nice to play one of the real minnows.
 
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