My thoughts on Tuesday night’s game against Blackburn Rovers.

I’m really heartened Big Tony identified left back as a problem and brought Drameh in. Surprised he put Laird at left back, but I thought defensively we looked better balanced and more secure. Despite being worried by the inclusion of Mark Roberts, it made sense to nullify aerial threats and he just about kept it together on the ball despite a couple of heart in mouth moments.

Bielik is looking more assured with every game, and I think moving him back is a smart move. In midfield I thought Paik was a revelation. My man of the match, even though he only played for about 65 minutes. I think we have a real player on our hands here.

Dozzell was tidy and kept us ticking over doing all the link play, and I’m pleased he got a goal. That’ll be great for his confidence. I thought JJ looked off the pace until he replaced Paik after the substitution, and Miyoshi was clever and industrious as ever.

The amount of running done by Stansfield was prodigious, and I’m only disappointed he wasn’t on the end of some of the chances we created. On that note, despite one horrendous miss and one poor decision in front of goal early in the second half, I thought Tyler Roberts had his best performance for us. He was holding the ball up, playing people in and looking more like someone who could be an asset to us going forward.

Overall we played some lovely stuff at times and you can see what Big Tony is aiming for. Finishing needs to improve, but we’re still creating those chances. Some time soon I think we’ll knock four or five past someone. Let’s hope it’s on Saturday. KRO.

Jez Hemming