Thanks for the report Brightonian. MMs preference of the 5-3-2 at the moment, in overall terms, is not producing good performances (apart from poss Barrow 2nd half), and results save Chester.
The Dawson situation is driving me mad! Several weeks ago Mike Jackson said Adam had some personal issues (family bereavement) but was back in training and available. Since that time we've seen Tollit, Dunn & Kirby all get injured and MM has changed from 4-4-2 to 5-3-2. Also since that time Adam has been training on match days with the squad in the warm up (as Brightonian says), so he must be available even if just for a cameo from the bench, yet he's not getting a look in. I could understand this if we were playing well and winning but we are not. Mekki did well against Barrow but lets be honest, over the course of a long period of games he isn't going to play well consistently enough. Someone in the media needs to ask MM what is the situation with Dawson - at least we'll know either way! What a waste though.
I bet the likes of Cook see Dawson as a real potential provider of crosses, corners & free kicks that the big man thrives on - yet at the moment he gets the odd decent cross from Ridehalgh and that's about it. I'm glad Connor J is back but that makes me think MM will stick with 5-3-2 even more and I don't think that gets the best out of our front men. We have one of the best target men in the league (plus Nors), yet we are starving them of any service and good delivery out wide.
Just watched the brief extract of MMs post match interview. He admits we worked hard but lacked that quality and composure in the final third and failing to beat the first man when crossing. One thing Dawson can do is put a good ball in the box.
Quiet whispers are linking us with Dale Jennings who would be a good wide option but he can't be fit at all (unless he's been training with us in hiding). Surely we could have brought another winger in albeit temporary and have Dawson/Mekki as the other option?
Our early MM form sees us still sitting comfortably in the play offs but the way we are playing at the moment it would not surprise me if the gap between us and 6th starts to shorten. Saturday is a massive game - not just for the Wembley carrot - but it could do wonders for the mood in the camp. I'm sure the players aren't happy with the way we are playing at the moment and there could be some confidence issues, especially with the strikers.