So, Bradford City. On the wrong end of a 5-0 shoeing courtesy of Notts County at the weekend, I imagine a nice cup upset would be exactly the tonic their manager and fans would like against Forest. With upsets aplenty already being dished out to Sheffield United, Derby and Plymoth, we’ll need to be on our guard (I resist the urge to suggest that Notts County losing to Donny is an upset!).
We of course have a well publicised defensive dilemma. Luke Chambers is suspended after Forest decided not to appeal his red card. They also made a point of publicising the fact that they will not be fining him either – which would suggest that the p0wers-that-be are comfortable enough that he was dealt with harshly – but not quite confident enough in the football league’s proclavity to over-rule one fo their minions.
Gunter is away with Wales, as with Earnie, so I’m half expecting to see Lynch partnering Wes in central defence, and some makeshift fullbacks probably in the shape of Garath McCleary and Chris Cohen. Should be interesting. I am not sure to what extent Billy will use this game as an opportunity to test some fringe players ahead of the league action recommencing at the weekend.
I suspect not, I think Billy will be keen to get a good result on the board and as such field a strong side – obviously being forced to push midfielders into defence makes selections in the middle of the park easier, McKenna is likely to feature alongside possibly McGugan I’m thinking. I reckon we’ll see Anderson on the right wing and Tyson on the left, with Blackstock and McGoldrick up front.
What do I know about Bradford’s current team? Not a fat lot if I’m being brutally honest – although they still have the evergreen Peter Thorne in their side, I remember a few years ago wishing we’d sign him. He is currently worried that his teammates collapse when things go against them – so from our point of view getting an early goal or two could work wonders for us.
Victor Chandler can’t see past us triumphing, offering only 1/2 for the Forest win, and 5/1 for a Bradford win. It’s hard to disagree, but then we all know what can happen in the the early cup stages – and given that I reckon 99% of us would take a dodgy result now in favour of getting a good league result against West Brom, it’s hard to imagine the players and staff don’t at least have similar thoughts looming at the back of their mind somewhere!
The football season is still very much in ‘new and shiny’ mode for me, so I’m still very much looking forward to getting down to the City Ground for our first home competitive action of the season. I shall more than likely be Tweeting during the game (network allowing!), so point your Twitter clients at @nffcblog if you don’t already!
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