It’s very hard to predict the outcome of this league. Who would have called Halifax winning at Aldershot for example? Our home form has certainly improved, but there are still potential banana-skins out there and it would be a surprise to me if we managed a 100% home record for the rest of the season. Need to improve our away form, but as I’ve only seen us twice on the road, can’t really account for how to address this.
Clarke is an exciting player for sure, but not yet the finished article. It’s good that he’s getting an opportunity and making the most of it. I don’t think that Ridehalgh will be totally out of the picture, when he regains fitness. Given Eddie started his career as a left-winger, there might be an option of playing him wide left and Liam at left-back for example.
McNulty, one mistimed header aside, did nothing wrong. He kept it simple and it was a very assured performance, don’t think he slowed things down. Whether playing with a back three, contributed to our difficulties in retaining possession in the spell from the end of the first half is arguable, though Buxton’s inability to pick out a Rovers player was the main weakness in that system, McNulty’s distribution was fine. I still feel in terms of player management that dropping Gumbs was the wrong thing though.