I feel nervous whoever we get to play once it comes to play-offs. Didn't really have a preference between Aldershot/Ebbsfleet. Looked back at the thread for the league match where I noted that Ebbsfleet were the poorest side seen at PP this season. A few months down the line, that's still true, but I'm expecting a very different opponent to show up on Saturday. They seem to have improved considerably and I concur with Sparky/RLC regarding their momentum. Relatively little pressure on them, enormous burden on our shoulders, which should offer some balance to them having played a lot recently and the travel involved. I also noted that in the League game, they got away with some poor challenges through weak refereeing. The man in black on Saturday is Peter Wright, who seems to have rather strange ideas on what does/doesn't constitute a penalty and something of an issue with James Norwood, who he's booked, maybe more than once, for diving. Given the choice, I'd rather someone else was taking charge of the game.
Decisions have to be taken on team selection. If Buxton is fully fit, a no-brainer that he comes back in at right-back. If his recovery is not complete, then it's a judgement call as to whether it's better to have a partially fit Adam in his correct position or deploy Harris or another there. In midfield, expect Cole to retain his place, despite a disappointing game last weekend. Ginnelly, I'm unsure about. It would have been good to have Green on the bench and given some time in the Pools game to see if he could fit in with the first team. It is absolutely crucial that we have some balance for the sub options, to cater for what the game may throw up, at least one defender, midfielder, forward and player with pace. I'm not convinced that Wallace should be one of them.
On the turnout, I'm expecting it to be reasonable, perhaps reaching 5 figures, with around 500 from Kent. It's a shame the club failed to sell reserved seats for this game, as a seasoncard holder, it would be nice to be able to have my own seat for the play-off game, without having to haggle for it. Crowd-player motivation is a two-way thing and while hopefully we'll be able to develop a supportive atmosphere for our own side and an intimidating one for the visitors, the players need to encourage the crowd, when they get subdued.
