Kernow

I'm pretty sure Collins will be on the bench at very least. Why have him on the pitch doing running drills against Northampton? He wasn't in the squad, he could have done running drills privately if it absolutely had to be done on that day, or he could just use the extra week to build up more fitness. It was almost a show-off to the fans that we have a striker coming back to soften the blow of losing Gayle. I don't see any other reason, when else have we had an "injured" player who wasn't in the squad warming up before a game? I don't think he will start because it would be too risky to lose him again, but if things aren't going too well at half-time, I think JC may make his return on Good Friday.

Vital we put yesterday behind us, the result is one negative but I worry the impact of yesterday will stretch beyond the result. We have to go back to a 4, and I’d bring Elder in at left back. Midfield is anyone’s guess, it’ll be 2 + Adams. Sibley could get the chance in a 10 position behind what’s almost certain to be Waghorn up top. CBT on one wing, Ward/Wilson on the other. Hopefully Collins can make the bench and Washington will have another week of fitness under his belt, which should give us a little more off the bench. It’s vital we start on the front foot and most importantly, take our chances. If that Waghorn chance about 10 minutes in went in, I think we go on to beat Northampton quite comfortably. If we concede first vs Blackpool, I’d not be confident we could turn it around to get 3 points.

What’s the best XI now then with the list of injuries mounting? I think we have to go back to a 4 when you include Bradley’s suspension, we don’t even have enough players fit to play a back 3 now. I’d probably go with Smith at right back for more defensive stability, use Ward & Wilson as options for the right wing especially with NML now out too. Hopefully Collins will be fit enough to make the bench for Blackpool, but right now I’d probably go with… Wildsmith Smith, Nelson, Cashin, Elder Hourihane Adams Sibley Wilson Waghorn CBT Not ideal to be honest, I worry there may be too long left given the amount of absences we have now.

I’d say having 3 or 4 injured at once is hard luck, yeah. TJJ is the only one I’m not surprised about given his injury record. I also think a lot had to fall “right” for us to get CBT with the loan fee and expiring contract etc. Wide areas were needed more than strikers in January, why it hasn’t worked out yet with CBT, I’m not too sure.

It's all hindsight though, isn't it. Without injuries, we'd have enough in my opinion. We have Collins, Gayle, TJJ, Washington and Waghorn. It's just typical that we haven't had more than 2 fit at once nearly all season.

It's a confidence boost to them, yes. But momentum? I wouldn't say so. Bolton have won 2 in their last 7, Barnsley 1 in their last 4, Peterborough lost their last game. Peterborough possibly have "momentum" in their form before losing to Portsmouth, but the form of the other two is hardly brilliant. It would be a massive up-turn in form for any side to win all of their remaining games. For Bolton that's 7 in a row and for Posh/Barnsley it's 8 in a row. They haven't done that all season, it'll take a massive effort to pull that out of the bag now. For example, Bolton have won 7 league games this year. They've played 16. If they go on to win 7 in a row now then fair enough, they deserve it. It's really frustrating that we haven't taken this opportunity, but we haven't thrown anything away yet. We still have it in our hands, and whilst we still may bottle it, turning on the players and the manager at this stage, would just ruin any remaining chance we do have.

We haven't bottled anything. Our points per game is still better than 22 other sides in our league, the three sides behind us all have to win their games in hand to get to within 1 result of us. We can probably forget about Portsmouth now, but I don't really care whether we finish 1st or 2nd. It's a massive missed opportunity, but it's still in our hands. The constant negativity gets really tiresome sometimes.

We need a proper striker fit asap. Lost the two games Gayle didn't start when he wasn't fit enough, won the next 4, then lost again without him. I knew it would be too good to be true, we never do things the simple way.

There’s not been many games more one sided than that. It quite easily could’ve been more than 5, probably should’ve been. Still doesn’t top the 1-2 win at their place with Fielding sent off and Hendrick scoring the winner minutes after missing that sitter, though.

Northampton 1-3 Derby Nelson

Chris Porter

On the flip side, if you give a player an extension now, do they take their foot off the pedal because they know they're here next season no matter what? I highly doubt that every single out of contract player will be let go regardless of if we're in the Championship or League One. There will be players who we may not want to extend in the Championship, but equally, if we fail from this position, are some of the players here ones we would want to try again next season? There's of course other factors, such as players may only want to re-sign if we're in the league above, or their wage demands may differ depending on divison. I think it's pretty sensible and unsurprising that we aren't dishing out new deals one month before the season ends and I would be even more surprised if it impacts the players' mentality.

From this tweet in particular, I have long wondered whether there is anything in the pipeline for investment if we are promoted. Wasn't it mentioned a little while back that Clowes was seeking/welcoming investment? Derby in the Championship with no debt, the support and the facilities would be a fantastic opportunity for someone. Clowes is a self-confessed reluctant owner, would he have the disposable funds to make this squad "competitive" in the Championship? Of course, the quote above is what you'd expect them to say, they aren't going to tell us that if we go up we'll be scraping the barrel and probably won't survive. But it really wouldn't surprise me if something has already been agreed should we finish the job and go up this year.

Do you mean Catherine Elizabeth Middleton, known as the Princess of Wales, or less frequently, the Duchess of CORNWALL? Cornwall, in Cornish, being Kernow? 🥲

It definitely hits the Bolton defender before going in. In the still image which I've seen (think it's on this thread), where handball is questioned, it definitely brushes Waggy's hip, could can see the ripple of his shirt around the ball. There's nothing obvious in real time, I think Wilson deserves it for the quality of the header and the excitement in his celebrations personally.

Mathematically, Bolton winning every game would take them to 95 points, so 96 absolutely guarantees it. That's 6 wins. It's possible, but I don't think we'll get that many. Realistically, even if you round Bolton, Barnsley and Posh's PPG rate up to 1.9, which is close to all their averages over the course of the season, it would be Bolton 87, Barnsley and Posh 85. Since New Year's day, Barnsley have had a PPG of 2.0, Posh 1.7 and Bolton 1.42. At this rate, it would end up with Barnsley on 87, Posh and Bolton on 84. I'd say based on overall form and more recent form, 88 points would be enough. There are still a number of key games which will also eliminate teams for us. Bolton play Pompey, Posh and Stevenage. Peterborough play Oxford and Bolton. Barnsley play Stevenage, Portsmouth and Blackpool. For us to get 88 points, we'd need 10 points from 7 games, allowing us to lose up to 3 games. I think we will get more than 10 points from the fixtures we have left, and I'm hoping that'll be enough.

Why are you acting like you had some divine right to win because you passed the ball around more than we did? If you look at the match stats, the figures don't show such a battering as some Wanderers fans would have us believe... Shots: 10-6 On target 3-3 Total attempts from open play: 4-5 Total attempts from set-pieces: 6-1 Possession: 44-56 And this is the really key stat here... Goals: 1-0. Long story short, we have been the side that passes around patiently for many years, don't always have the ruthless edge, and feel aggrieved because another side has out-thought and out-fought us. We haven't finished in the automatic places playing that way, more efficient sides have beaten us to it. You may not have "deserved" to lose it, but you conceded a goal and we didn't, so you lost. You have already criticised our playing style, fair enough. We'd all like to watch Barcelona in black and white with a Ram on their chest, but that doesn't always get you out of the league. I'm also not sure how a free header (really well taken by Kane Wilson, by the way) from a corner is "scabby" by the way? Perhaps if you could score more "scabby" goals then you might not have to spend your free-time crying on forums of League One clubs next season.

Big shoutout to Joe Wildsmith today. Won us the 3 points as much as Kane Wilson did.

Mathematically it will be higher. Oxford play Stevenage and Lincoln, so it’s impossible for them all to reach their maximum. There will be plenty of other fixtures that reduce the maximums, it’ll just take some working out. Personally, I think today guarantees us to 4 at least. Four points to Bolton, Posh & Barnsley have games in hand but can only be within 4 points if they win. It’ll take at least two games to catch us up, especially with our goal difference. There’s still key games against each other to come, I can’t see all 3 doing enough to catch us at the same time now.

Anything from days to season ending depending on the severity, then. We might have to get through two games with just Waghorn, hopefully the extra two weeks before Portsmouth will give Collo and Washington enough time to make the bench at least.

We’re possibly two games away from confirming our place in the top 6. Oxford can reach 84 points at best, Stevenage have a game in hand and can reach 85. Obviously neither will get anywhere close to that, but mathematically we could secure it very soon.

Don’t see how Lincoln can be stopped at the moment, surprised they aren’t predicted to be 6th. I’d hate to face them in the play-offs, let’s hope after today we’ve taken a big step towards avoiding that.

Never mind hey 🙂 Take care!

What a win!!! The character to pull it off despite the injuries and being on the back foot. The mentality is different now, we have done all we had to do in our biggest game of the season. When your in-form goal scorer goes off injured after 20 minutes, you just think it’s going to be one of those days. Let’s hope it’s not too bad for Gayle. The Posh-Pompey result is excellent for us too, Barnsley even more of a bonus. 4 points clear with 7 to play, we can do this. What a team, what a day, get the f*** in!!

*One relegation in 15 seasons 😂