[StanleyJosh]

for what it’s worth, I thought Seamus was lucky not to be sent off for his first yellow.
Studs were up and he was very late.
From the other angle where I was stood opposite the cameras, for his 2nd yellow there was a lot more shirt tugging than it looks on the highlights. Stopping a counter attack deliberately like that always warrants a yellow, just as their player received a short while after for stopping ours in a similar position.
Strange that the Bristol fans were taunting Evtimov, I thought their first 2 goals were both our left backs fault, which is frustrating as he’s been given the opportunity to replace Maguire, and although in my view slightly better, hasn’t really filled me with much confidence. The new lad who came on is a big tall lad who looks physical, just what we need so hopefully he will slot in.
Thought Clark was superb in spells, poor start but once he got his goal it filled him and the team with confidence. When he is at his best it’s so difficult to defend against him. He is a joy to watch with a ball at his feet. My only criticism (perhaps harsh, perhaps due to the expectation of him being one of our best players) is that when we concede a first goal, he never seems to want to have the ball much and influence the game. If the team is playing well, he will step it up but he’s not one to lift the whole team when down in my opinion.
Charles was a threat all game and closed down their defenders quickly, which resulted in Finley’s well taken second game. Finley had a solid came and won the ball with some outstanding tackling, few sloppy passes but that was, I’d imagine, a result of tiredness after virtually covering every blade of grass in the 90mins.
Their 3rd goal was a sensational overhead kick from one of the best strikers in the league. Probably shouldn’t have had the time to do it given how many players we had in the box defender the corner. But hey, the lads showed great character and urgency when we were 3-2 and a man down, ironically playing better football.
We are missing Billy Kee a tremendous amount. Especially with a strikers hold up play.
Pritchard has done enough to deserve his place whilst McConville has been suspended.
Play like that all season and we will be fine.
The exciting prospect is the huge amount of potential in this squad.
John and Jimmy have their work cut out in getting that potential out of the players.