[madsteve]

One Step Closer to the Playoffs

Bennett & Lopez replaced Pudil and Hutchinson as CC appeared to start with the 442 that struggled in the first half against Charlton. In reality, it was more of a 4411 with FF playing more in midfield than as a striker.

A dour first half with just a couple of long range Wallace efforts to punctuate the gloom with Hooper left isolated up front. Nothing to worry about because CC doesn't do first halves - he just waits for the second half to put out his best players & best formation.

CC stuck with the same eleven for the second half and McGeady had a shot headed off the line. Still we lacked the shape and when CC did make a change, it was Nuhiu for Hooper, which gave us height up front but still gave us a shortage of attacking numbers. However with 15 minutes left, Joao replaced McGeady and everything changed.

It felt as though a Wednesday goal was coming and Joao used his pace to burst clear down the left and play in a perfect ball in for FF to turn it in from close range - an easy task but he was there.

There was a bit of a scare when Lee had to block on the line but after that we showed the composure to claim another three points.

Couldn't help thinking (again) that we could win more comfortably if we played our best team & formation from the start.

Westwood - 6
Hunt - 7
Lees - 7
Loovens - 7
Bennett - 7
Wallace - 7
Lee - 7
Lopez - 6
McGeady - 7
FF - 8
Hooper - 6
.............................
Nuhiu - 6
Joao - 7
Matias - 6

Stat Attack:

Goals: 1 - FF

Assists: 1 - Joao

Touches: 62 - Lees, 61 - Lee, 56 - Hunt, 55 - Lopez, 50 - Loovens, FF, 49 - Bennett, 38 - Wallace, 36 - McGeady, 33 - Westwood, 19 - Hooper, 14 - Nuhiu, 13 - Joao, 4 - Matias

Tackles: 5 - Hunt, 4 - Lee, 2 - Loovens, Bennett, Lopez, FF, 1 - Wallace, Hooper

Interceptions: 4 - Lees, FF, 3 - Bennett, Lee, 2 - Hunt, 1 - Wallace, Nuhiu, Joao

Clearances: 6 - Lees, 5 - Bennett, 4 - Hunt, 3 - Nuhiu, 2 - Loovens, 1 - Wallace, Hooper, Joao

Attempts: 3 - Wallace, 2 - FF, 1 - Hunt, McGeady

Attempts On Target: 1 - Wallace, McGeady, FF

Key Passes: 2 - Joao, 1 - Bennett, Lee, Nuhiu

Dribbles: 6 - McGeady, 4 - FF, 3 - Hunt, 2 - Lopez, Hooper, 1 - Wallace, Nuhiu

Dispossessed: 6 - FF, 3 - McGeady, Hooper, 2 - Bennett, Joao, 1 - Hunt, Lee

Bad Control: 3 - Nuhiu, 2 - Hunt, Lee, Hooper, 1 - Loovens, Lee, Bennett, Wallace, FF, Joao

Crosses (Accurate in brackets): 5 - Wallace (0), 1 - Hunt (0), Lee (0), Joao (1)

Passing Accuracy (Total Passes in Brackets):

Loovens - 86% (43), Lees - 84% (49), Lee - 83% (46), Bennett - 81% (31), Lopez - 80% (50), FF - 75% (28), Wallace - 71% (24), Hooper - 70% (10), McGeady - 65% (23), Nuhiu - 60% (5), Hunt - 56% (32), Joao - 50% (6), Westwood - 48% (25), Matias - 0% (3)

I always felt confident that we would win but cannot help thinking that CC is content to start each match in the low gears and step it up in the second half by introducing Nuhiu, Joao or both. It is a second consecutive win while Bannan is suspended and if we can make it three on Tuesday night then we will have got through his suspension unscathed. We miss his intensity but we have enough winners in our squad to pick up results while playing below our best.