It does feel different. I would like to be in that dressing room last night to hear what was being said. I think amongst the better players there was an expectation we would push the playoffs.

I think he is quite underrated on this board.

I think he will have a very reasonable release clause if we don't go up. He wouldn't have signed up if we could in theory have got in the way of a Premier league move

I think the man at the base of the midfield 3 is an issue. When we were pressing more intensely at the start of the season I think we could get away with johnson in that role. I like Trybull and think he has the right attributes to play that role but doesn't seem to be in favour or is injured (I know he doesn't release it quickly enough sometimes) Davenport is untested .... still Evans is injured as usual and I don't rate him Travis is our best cm. But has excelled in a 2 man cm. Start of the season he was playing right of the 3. I don't think he works as the sitting midfielder, It limits the strenghts of his own game too much and it also highlights his weakness. He doesn't open his body up very well when receiving the ball especially when facing his own goal. In that role he has to do it a lot a more of this and I don't think it would work. So combine that with the less intense pressing and the return of dack as an option at 10 then it might worth changing to 4 2 3 1

Tbf Rothwell scored today from that position. I would worry that he can't be trusted defensively In a 2 man midfield.

Mowbray need to change it up at half time. He didn't. 1st half was slow and pedestrian, yes we had lots of possession but it wasn't good possession say like the possession we had the last 15 mins where we were probing. Gallagher needed dropping, he wasn't. Johnson is reverting to type a little bit. Slow and sloppy, if we are going to be in a game with so much possession get someone else in the deep lying midfield Holtby anonymous. Needs dropping Douglas has been a massive disappointment and is costing us points defensively. If it was an option to send him back and try get someone else I would take it. We looked better when shifting to a 4-2-3-1 after the changes. Dacks movement and sharp touches crested good space for armstrong who got to stretch them a bit more. That looks like it could be a winner going forward. I've generally supported the change to 433 and wondered where dack fits into it but now I think we should alter the shape and aim for Travis Rothwell Elliott dack Brereton Armstrong

He has been so disappointing

The key word there is was.

Dack linked up well with armstrong before his injury he was the only person who could get him in behind so I'm not too worried about that. I'd have him as one of the 2 centre mids. But if a slot was open in the front line like it is currently wouldnt be opposed to giving him another go as a false 9

I think trybull is a good signing even now and will be important to us in the second half of the season

If injuries weren't an issue I'd be looking at getting in a proper wide player on loan but circumstances dictate that we need a centre back on loan desperately. Williams and Wharton aint coming back any time soon and ayala is made of glass and lenihan isnt playing well this season.

On recent form it should be Holtby.

We don't have any proper wingers bar Chapman who isn't up to the standard.

Kaminski Nyambe Ayala Williams Douglas Downing Trybull Rothwell Elliot Armstrong Gallagher Subs: Pears, Lenihan, Bell, Davenport, Johnson, Buckley, Holtby, Dolan, Chapman, Douglas over Bell purely as we will likely have the ball a lot. Holtby hasn't influenced much recently and should be rested along with Johnson who is racking up the minutes. Maybe Dolan over Gallagher, perhaps buckley over Downing, harsh on Davenport who probably deserves a start t some point.

After the last 3 games we have had we need to win 4 out of 5 especially as we can't beat any team above us. I suspect we will win 3 out of the 5 and put ourselves close to the playoffs again - only to disappoint us once again. The 3 I think we will win - Rotherham, Sheff Wed, Huddersfield

Arent we still the top scorers in the league. We need to replace the brereton goal threat. Easiest way to get an extra goal source is to get dack fit and hopefully he can chip in with a few from the 8 position

I'd be resting Johnson for this one. Keep him fresh for saturday. Trybull over Davenport as the sitting midfielder. A tad harsh but I seem to rate Trybull higher than others on here

No point judging buckley on his performance at right back. He gave it a go that's all you can ask he obviously has no future there. I must say I was surprised when he came on and even with knowing it all worked out okayish in the end I'd have gone for Trybull. He is smooth in possession and is a much better defender than buckley as a midfielder so I'd have just moved him back there. Tbf to Mowbray he came out and explained his rationale. That in training 10 v10 games buckley slots in at right back a lot as he we have so many midfielders. So the logic is he knows the angles better, fair enough? Think downing might have worked better though, intelligent player and their left winger was coming inside onto downings stronger foot I would rather give Pike a go on Wednesday over carter should it come to it. I'd rather carry a right back who isnt upto standard yet than a centre half.

I take your point. Scored the winner from the left on Wednesday though tbf. Without brereton we may need to have to refund a new balance to the front 3.

It's a tough next three games. With the fixture backlog we will have to rotate over the coming games. As mowbray alluded to we can't run Armstrong into the ground and he will need to be subbed at times. The injury to brereton has come at a bad time. I'd go Kaminski Nyambe lenihan Ayala Bell Holtby Trybull Rothwell Dolan Gallagher Armstrong

I disagree on Kaminski. Thought he did well, one bad pass early on. I'm a big fan. He punches a lot, sometimes when he should catch. I think some may see that as erratic and in some sense they are right. But the key for a goalkeeper is he is being decisive, a few last night hencouldve caught but he got good distance on the punches. If that's what works for him i dont mind it too much.

Trybull for johnson Rothwell for someone

Personally I'd go with Trybull. Mainly because he reads danger well and is less likely to get caught up field. Also I think in that role its important to simply recycle possession and johnson gives the ball away a lot. You've got holtby and Rothwell next to him to provide forward impetus. Johnson has his advantages though, the physical presence is very important. But we coped well without him at deepdale

Been a bit of stick for Mowbray religiously playing 4-3-3 post lockdown and to some extent I get it as when the right players aren't available you've got to mix it up but... 4-3-3 has really solved a lot of problems we had with players who never fitted the systems we played before. Rothwell wasn't really a winger as he came inside too much and was often out of the game too much. He is also better facing goal ready to drive. left of the midfield 3 has been revolutionary for him (interestingly it's always where he saw himself) Holtby struggled to impact games on the wing, like Rothwell didn't get involved enough. As a 10 he could be out of games for long periods and you never though he was going to hurt you like Dack could. On the right of the 3 he is involved a lot more and is getting the ball frequently in key areas with runners in front of him (which is key) and naturally he has looked like the quality player we thought we were signing. Brereton - Only a subtle change in the way he is being used but still more advanced - gets him closer to the box, he isn't wasting as much time and energy tracking back, he can get closer to the box. Armstrong can play through the middle now as he is has Brereton close to him to do some hold up play. Armstrong in a 4-4-1-1 would be much less effective. Still interested to see where Dack slots back into all this.

Kaminski Nyambe - lenihan - wharton - douglas Holtby - Trybull - Rothwell Elliott Armstrong brereton Subs: pears, carter, bell, davenport, downing, buckley, dolan, gallagher, chapman There will be a lot of calls to drop Trybull after Saturday but I think he will be a good player for us so long as he is the defensive midfielder, he isnt one of the wide centre mids at all