I think the name will have come from here to be honest.

I am unconvinced by his cameos to the extent that I would want him in the team but my point was more that he didnt appear lightweight when he played, if anything a little over eager. All I do know is that Bennett is not the answer to play in holding midfield. Far too ill disciplined, will leave gaps and concede free kicks. Not good enough on the ball either. If Johnson failed to make it on Saturday, we would either have to play Davenport and/or improvise without having a player comfortable sitting in front of the defence. Indeed the answer to the void left by Travis isnt internal. Magloire has been mentioned as a holding midfielder on the transfer thread, a kid who isnt up to it in his own position.

I think Preston fans in general are generally unhappy with no signings and their best players courting interest from elsewhere with a year left on their deals. Ultimately we dont yet know if he has end product. It is far too early for either set of fans to be going too over the top, nothing more than a few bright cameos at the moment, glad weve taken him as he looks a raw talent who can hopefully develop but I think that the overall reaction is intensified because of where he came from.

Bennett's experience counts for little if he still has the naivety as he does to charge around, firstly getting caught out of position, and secondly his actual tackling just gives away fouls to a side who will want to win set pieces. There is no way that he can be trusted to be a sitting midfielder. When Davenport has been in the first team he certainly puts himself about. It sounds like Johnson is going to be fit but there is no way that Bennett should play that role if not.

Even with the injuries, there are no excuses. We have 10m worth of 2 strikers, and some big earners like Holtby, Johnson, Ayala, a goalkeeper who cost half a million from a very respectable side, and quite a few players from an academy Wycombe could only dream of. Even the likes of Williams, Rothwell, Chapman and Davenport would almost certainly have been unaffordable to Wycombe. Time for Brereton to finally get a goal in a game that matters. Has to be a win here, 100%.

A lot of Boro fans comments about Ayala were about him falling out with managers in the past who believed he was fit to play but he was unwilling to do so. Hopefully that wont be a problem here. Bennett hasnt got the discipline to play central midfield to break things up, he starts charging round everywhere and giving away fouls. Wycombes main threat will be likely from set pieces, play Bennett and I am sure that they will get plenty of them Not Johnsons biggest fan but he is far better there than Bennett. Bennetts reputation as a competent central midfielder was based on that one game when him and Smallwood (and he still wouldnt be in the squad) put themselves about v Shrewsbury. It didnt last and Bennett was moved out wide and then to right back as soon as Evans returned. When we played Preston, we played a 4-4-1-1 with Emnes off Joao and Bennett and Conway out wide if I recall, both of whom scored.

I think Bristol Citys local reporter denied any interest but you are right, I cant see us spending 7 figures on a player this window in fact.

If Dack doesnt play pre Christmas which seems an overreaction then thats a huge blow.

Somewhat expected but not good news. We need him back as we only have one goal threat at the moment.

If Bennett plays in central midfield then we are in trouble. He is not a tough tackling defensive midfielder, he is a liability. Johnson is back training today so hopefully he will play. Failing that, we have Davenport.

He missed the first game, played the second in Lenihans absence, then got injured himself missing 4 games, came into a back 3 before being subbed after an hour v Milwall, didnt make the squad v Reading, then was sub for the next 3 games and only came back into the team upon another injury to Lenihan at QPR. Looking back, I wonder if and when he would have broke in had it not been for injury to Lenihan.

? bit slow today!

Yeah there seems to be imbalances which ever way we set up doesnt there. I am unconvinced that we have the mobility and energy in central midfield without Travis. I am not convinced for example that Johnson and Evans would compliment each other very well, Evans played with Downing I recall last season and there was not enough energy. When Holtby played in a midfield 2 last season, especially at Leeds (admittedly the toughest game) he was so poor, he kept giving the ball away. He needs 2 more working around him really. Getting him and Dack together will be tough. I just think with Dack and Armstrong, youd have to put probably both of them in unfamiliar positions to get them in a 4-3-3.

Dack is not a central midfielder either. If you move him too far away from the opposition goal he will not score with regularity as he does as a 10.

Does he?! Hes fast, hes tricky, hes skilful, hes very exciting but hes played a couple of cameos and an hour yesterday, I cant fathom how such a conclusion can have been made already.

Whiteman has become the new Maddison, the name wont go away but are we really gonna spend over 2m on a midfielder? I would be surprised (pleasantly) if Cunningham came back too.

Akinfenwa.

Yep, and ultimately both are solely promise at the moment rather than anything tangible.

It's not about asking to come off, even if there was a small risk, it was irresponsible to carry on and make it worse, especially as its an injury he has had problems with before.

He is a really poor pundit too. Kept forgetting players names!

Is it as black or white as that? Brereton took 2 players on and pulled a ball back for a goal v Doncaster which Armstrong couldnt finish first time, and Rankin Costello scored. A great bit of play but not an assist in the record books. Rankin Costello played a simple 5 yard pass and Johnson scored from 25 yards with a big goalkeeping error. I think the only real statistic that you can really treat with any objectivity is goals scored. Assists are of course important but in this instance, an assist isnt a straightforward assist. And of course, when you start looking at pass completions etc, they all need to be taken with a massive pinch of salt due to various factors, for example the style and quality of the side. Put Adarabioyo in Wycombes team and his pass success rate would be lower than Derrick Williams for us.

Breretons price tag in my opinion goes for him as much as it goes against him. Because of it, he has perhaps got more game time than his performances have warranted to date. Also, because people are so desperate for him to do well to justify the fee, if he does a nice run or something very small, people get more excited than if it was anyone else. The thing is, to warrant a place, he has to contribute goals. I don't think he will ever become prolific but he needs to at least chip in. Even if he gets 8-10 in a 46 game season, its not remarkable but if he is also is assisting, is taking people on, and Armstrong and Dack are the main 2 goalscorers getting the ma. It is infuriating to see him well outside the box when we have the ball near the oppositions goal. He cant continue to have reviews of, "went on a couple of nice runs but missed an open net," " went on a couple of nice runs but kicked out and got sent off," "went on a couple of nice runs but fell over the ball trying to take it round the keeper when gifted with a 1 on 1" and "went on a couple of nice runs but when the ball dropped to him he took too long and got tackled." I dont think he is capable out wide but his positioning and lack of bravery last night when he was played centrally was absolutely infuriating. In the 4-3-3 I do think that if he does play centrally we will be totally devoid of any goal threat. There is no way that it was a strategical ploy to have him stood so far away from the danger zone every single time. I dont think Dack would work as a number 9, then again, Gallagher out wide never worked and he continued to play it stubbornly!

I think that might be wishful thinking. I think that when Dack does return, he will go with Dack as a false 9, Armstrong left, Gallagher right, and then when that doesnt work, maybe revert back to 4-2-3-1, with Gallagher still wide.

Akinfenwa is injured I think but if we feared him in anyway, we may aswell pack it in now. Suspect he will be very much a parody figure in the Championship.

Is Dack back in full training, setback free? Was supposed to be in non contact training for 3 weeks.