Frustrating Times

Well we head into the international break still waiting to record our first win of the season and hovering just above the drop zone.

Of course it's pretty pointless looking at the league table until a dozen games have been played and I suspected that we might have to wait until mid September before we saw the team start to play its best football. 

That said, the matches played so far have exposed a large hole in the squad that was created on opening day when Will Hughes got injured. We have so far failed to replace him and his contribution to our attack is missed more than many may have thought it would be. 

Without him we have looked pretty toothless going forward and we have gone from being one of the most feared teams going forward to one that has been easy for teams to contain. 

The Tiger has turned into a pussy cat! His link up play with our attack is being missed big time.

Since that opening day game at Bolton, we have failed in our attempts to bring someone in to fill the gap left by Hughes.

Obviously with teams knowing how much our needs are, prices will be inflated. Bids for Jacob Butterfield, Alex Pritchard on loan and Michail Antonio have been rejected. Antonio is never going to be sold to us by our biggest rivals anyway..

I would also suggest that maybe a right back should be on the shopping list. Chris Baird is better suited to the holding role in midfield and if George Thorne picks up an injury, that is where he will be needed. Neither Cyrus Christie or Ryan Shotton look to be a solution in that role.

Obviously our fans are getting very frustrated at the lack of a win and victory is a must over the next couple of games in my opinion.  Paul Clement couldn't have chosen a more demanding job for his first attempt at running a team. 

A club like Detby County where fans expect promotion from which is arguably the toughest division to get out of in Europe is in reality a real leap into the deep end. A win soon is a must because apart from expectations from the stands, the man himself needs that confidence booster.

We head into the international break and hopefully when we resume league action, a couple of signings will have been added to the squad. If not, we face a difficult run in the next series of matches.