Dreadful preview: that lot vs the Mighty

As we've established, previews aren't my strong point. Neither is analysis or brevity but that's by the by. I've made more than the usual effort with this one. Anyone would think it's a big game.

We're playing the second leg of the Tony Ellis Challenge Cup on Tuesday and we just need to avoid defeat by 2 goals or more in order to win the thing. In fact, if we score they'll need 3 goals.

Some might say, it's just a league game, but I reckon if scores are tied on aggregate, we should have penalties to settle the issue. It seems UEFA can make up whatever rule they want to make sure Man U and their ilk make it into the Champions League no matter what, so why we can't add a little extra frisson to this neighbourly affair by declaring it a local trophy is beyond me.

Imagine this in solid gold: The Anthony Joseph Ellis Trophy.

We weren't very good on Saturday, but according to the universal logic of football fans, losing the game before a big game is good because:

- it banishes complacency

- it gets defeats 'out of the system'

- it will lull the upcoming opposition into a false sense of security.

I'm not entirely convinced of any of the above, because the universal logic of football fans would say 'a win gives us momentum/confidence' but what it should do is ensure Critch brings some of our key players who are on the cusp of fitness back into the team. If we lack anything we lack the instinctive creativity that Keshi Anderson provides and the calm, precise 'business executive practicing golf putting in his office' style passing of crazy Uncle Richard. (Plus also his helpful pointing at things)

Lads, watch Richard. Can you see how he passes it to our own players? Let's give that a whirl!

Maybe Keshi isn't ready for 90 minutes but it makes sense to start him and unleash CJ (who might be fast and nothing else, but fast is a thing and is, in the right situation, more than enough in and of itself) later in the game than do it the other way round.

The main panic is a lack of right backs. Callum Connolly will probably have to play there and he'll do fine because despite widespread scepticism about him (me included) the lad is, actually, any good and each game he plays, I like him more. It also has to be said, that earlier in the year, we'd not yet realised we could play Josh Bowler from the beginning of games and so our lack of attacking threat on the right then, wasn't simply down to who played full back.

The main choice seems to be whether to play 2 up front or not. I'm not sure. However we do it, Madine plays because whenever Madine doesn't play, we end up looking like the striker is playing on a different pitch. It would, I think, be an interesting experiment, to play 5 in midfield, with Kirk wide left, Keshi in the middle and Bowler wide right and try and get the attacking players around Gaz. Kirk isn't very quick, but gives a quality of delivery that is lacking. He makes Gaz more of a goal threat and also seems to offer a bit more cover for the left back. With Dougall and Stewart sitting deeper, I'd hope jet-lagged Kenny strengths were played to more in that set up with Keshi available, buzzing around giving Kenny an easier option than trying quarter back passes.

To be fair, whilst, yes, it's just filling space, it does look *a bit* like King Kenny.

Talking of Dougall, whilst he was really poor on Saturday, it's also true to say that a 442 with effectively a double pivot of defensive midfielders is a bit odd and I'm not convinced that we're learning that Kenny isn't up to it, more that there are limits to what players can do in certain formations. Give him another, more creative player and a few more options around and then judge him. Expecting him to ping it round and also be a defensive shield, whilst also getting forward and onto things in and around the box... It's just not realistic.

We could also play 5 at the back, but then, the problem is, we don't really have any wing backs, Reece James aside. I'm not agin Reece James playing but I'm not sure he's quite Trent Alexander Arnold and we'd also miss out on the potential for Jimmy Husband shithousery which in a game like this, is something to be valued.

Who plays in goals? Grimmy. Every single time. He's an excellent keeper and you drop people because of a run of poor form, not because of a mistake. Goalies always make mistakes and those mistakes are more likely to be punished than one by an outfield player. So, as tempting as it is to work to the narrative that cos Maxwell used to play for Preston but he's alright now, he should go in between the sticks, dropping a keeper for one shit pass, is not, in my opinion, how we should do it.

When you Google 'stoned man with beard' you get this photo and if this isn't *actually* Grimmy then I'm not actually Mitch Cook's Left Foot.

What about the opposition?

I don't really care. They're all on loan or are a shambles of a signing like that lad from Celtic. They've named one of their stands after a lad who did his best work for Liverpool. It's like us having the 'Rickie Lambert East Stand' or 'the Emlyn Hughes Southwest Corner' 

Get into em. Smash their BAXI boilers, butter pies, boiled potato trams and brutalist bus stations.

Figuratively of course. We're all about the love.

See you on the other side.