Exchanging Corn...V Doncaster at home, 23/11/21 8 'O clock.

[Worthy4England]

He got poached by Norwich!

I opened what purported to be the "Latest U18's News" story - only just realised it was from 2020!

[Prufrock]

There’s definitely some irony this being Doncaster btw.

Ha! Finally they get to play the kids.

[GhostoftheBok]

He's also said, a couple of times now, that "we're stuck with what we have until January" - So I'm sort of assuming he's covering all the "can we recall X from Mars FC" type of scenarios...

Yes, though they didn't count the youth players when recounting available options so presumably Senior falls into the same category as some others we've seen on the bench lately.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Haven't we also got Regan Riley in the U18's....

On loan from Countdown?

Who?

I was thinking of him - and indeed a similar Countdown joke - just this afternoon, while considering just how thin our academy still is. Promising midfielder (doh!) Regan Riley, who played 53 minutes for us in the Sherpa Sh!tshow at Shrewsbury last autumn, did indeed get bought by Norwich - £250,000 I believe.

[GhostoftheBok]

In all seriousness, this is an Izzy-at-right-back kind of game. Doncaster are extremely defensive away from home and he will be able to play as an auxiliary winger. If we can get Doyle back fit that's amazing, as it'll allow us to put Kachunga back on the right to both cover Izzy and stretch play. It's also not a game for the double pivot, as we won't penetrate their block. Whoever plays 10 will need support from the 8 to force spaces and run the channels - that'll have to be Thomason's job.

It's one of the few games of the season where we could get away without Williams, but I imagine we will still put Johnston in there to help out against Cukur as an out ball. John and Izzy will both need to come inside at times to exploit overloads as the other carries the ball up and we'll need to watch the counter when they do.

This could be another Crewe for us, if we are at it from minute one. They will be more direct than Crewe were and we'll need to be clinical as they do deny space very well, but there's nothing to fear there.

[TANGODANCER]

M.J is out for the foreseeable future with a shoulder injury according to tonight's Bolton News. Looking black for us right now.

[Bertie Wooster]

I think that Doncaster have almost as many injuries as we have.

[BWFC_Insane]

I think that Doncaster have almost as many injuries as we have.

Let’s hope they also have as many key positions without any cover too.

A 0-0 tomorrow would be a great result. A point, anything. We need to scrape whatever we can till January.

[TANGODANCER]

A 0-0 tomorrow would be a great result. A point, anything. We need to scrape whatever we can till January.

No, sorry, but against the leagues second from bottom it will hardly be acceptable. It might happen, we may even lose, but great results are about winning and three points.
Saturday we have Cheltenham at the Unibol and they're a couple of places above us. A great result would see us win both. Thank you.....

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I know what Insano means, but we have to grab whatever points we can wherever we can and Donny are a right mess. A draw would be understandable but it’d still be two points dropped IMO.

[GhostoftheBok]

3 points is a good result. 1 point is okay considering. A loss would be devastating to morale, but understandable given other factors.

We'll win, though; so it doesn't matter.

[Prufrock]

Big test of Evatt this. I think they'll give him until March no matter what, but this is the run of games where a big haul looked possible given that positions of the teams we have to face (but also allows them to catch quicker if worried about that). Now we're really down to the bare bones. 7 games until the window opens (when we'll have played 25). 3 points from those 7 would have us on 1ppg which is close to the dots.

It's a real puzzle, but if we can pick up even two wins on that run we'll be above the dots when reinforcements arrive. That would be a relative success from here to me. I don't think it's unthinkable that we could get fewer than 3 though. Then the heat will be on.

[LeverEnd]

Really interested to see how we approach this tonight. It's obviously our best chance of 3 points, so go for it and take some risks? It's a big risk though, because defeat makes us definite relegation candidates, even with the cushion we have. No idea really, only thing I'm sure of is that I'm going to freeze my nuts off.

[knobpolisher]

This MJ dislocated shoulder business-- I have two rugby playing pals who have both suffered from recurring dislocated shoulders and they pop it back in and get on with it. Is this different ?

[BWFC_Insane]

This MJ dislocated shoulder business-- I have two rugby playing pals who have both suffered from recurring dislocated shoulders and they pop it back in and get on with it. Is this different ?

My understanding is that when it pops out first time it can go back in and either have damage there or be relatively clean. Either way there will be pain and it will either need rest or an operation to properly fix it.

Some people have ones that come out more times after that as the joint has worn and left more space and generally don’t cause damage and can be put back in. But presumably this is first time for MJ. And not everyone can have recurrences so easily fixed. Trying to remember who we had who had a shoulder that kept breaking down. Was it under Coyle?

[nicholaldo]

This MJ dislocated shoulder business-- I have two rugby playing pals who have both suffered from recurring dislocated shoulders and they pop it back in and get on with it. Is this different ?

My understanding is that when it pops out first time it can go back in and either have damage there or be relatively clean. Either way there will be pain and it will either need rest or an operation to properly fix it.

Some people have ones that come out more times after that as the joint has worn and left more space and generally don’t cause damage and can be put back in. But presumably this is first time for MJ. And not everyone can have recurrences so easily fixed. Trying to remember who we had who had a shoulder that kept breaking down. Was it under Coyle?

Zach Clough is the only one I can remember to suffer a dislocated shoulder. I believe he had to have surgery on it in the end.

[GhostoftheBok]

Nicky Hunt used to be out with his shoulder at least once a season. He was hospitalised with a shoulder injury when he was 19 after he fell awkwardly in a reserves game vs Birmingham. He had a couple of surgeries but he was never right with it again.

[officer_dibble]

Got to go for the win tonight, unless it’s 0-0, ten minutes to go and we are down to ten/nine men which feels realistic !

[TANGODANCER]

Really interested to see how we approach this tonight. It's obviously our best chance of 3 points, so go for it and take some risks? It's a big risk though, because defeat makes us definite relegation candidates, even with the cushion we have. No idea really, only thing I'm sure of is that I'm going to freeze my nuts off.

You can bet Doncaster will adopt the current trend of going at us like there's no tomorrow, because they'll all be well aware now that we can be beaten and, despite their lowly position and injury catalogue, it won't be any joy ride for us. In fairness to Evatt, he can only send out what's available as a team and we're the "300" in every battle right now. A win tonight will be a real boost, because the next attack ( Cheltenham on Saturday) will surely be more a Nelly of Rivington than Helen of Troy, but just as intense.

Up and at em then, and ...COME ON YOU WHITES..

[KeyserSoze]

Nothing to do with the game, but why do our midweek home games always seem to kick off at 8 rather than 7.45? Is it something that we are obliged to do? Every other League One game bar ours is a 7.45 KO tonight.

I feel I may have asked this question many years ago but I've forgotten.