Listening to David Batch he seems to have the young players very much in mind, although it is strange that Rob Sturgess featured, and did well in pre-season, yet hasn't figured in the first team squad yet this term.
To say something positive about David Batch, the Academy players seem to be flourishing and apparently are benifitting from his coaching skills. It may be that he is reluctant to pitch them into a team which is obviously struggling at the moment. It would be a shame if their confidence was dented in this way.
That being said, Rob Sturgess seemed to thrive under those circumstances at the end of last season. As things stand it would be a very positive move to see players like Sturgess, Robbie Simpson, Warren Taylor and Ryan Jenner feature in the squad as it's difficult to see a better way to lift the feeling of gloom around the place at the moment.
There are one or two obvious changes that could be made following Saturday. Either bring in Leon Gutzmore from the start or play Adam Wilde up front alongside Kevin Wilkin. I think a recall for Rob Nightingale is also long overdue to give us some much needed pace and creativity in the middle of the park. Matt Clements looked like he took a fairly heavy knock so may need a breather anyway.
To a certain extent the defensive and non-creative style we have adopted over the past few games has achieved its objective of collecting a few league points. It didn't work on Saturday.
The next two home games are now crucial. We need two good, positive, fully committed displays. We've got the players who can do it, let's use them and get them playing in the right way.
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