It feels like a long time since Town beat Hull a week last Friday, so tonight’s match against Luton can’t come soon enough for me. It’s fourth plays fifth in the league and the winner of tonight’s game (if there is one) will feel that they have a very good chance of making the playoffs after a few other promotion chasers dropped points over the weekend.
Luton are a tough opponent and will not make things easy for Town. They don’t have any superstar players but work incredibly hard and can be tough to break down. It’s exactly the kind of team Town typically struggle against and tonight is a test of whether they can break down a stubborn defence without leaving the backdoor open.
Here’s how I think Town will lineup.
Goalkeeper – Nicholls
Lee Nicholls seems like a certainty for player of the season already and continues to bail Town out of tricky situations. His timewasting and general gamesmanship won me over in the first half of the season but his ability to pull off match-winning saves has come to the fore as the season has worn on. Given the dross we have spent big money on in recent years, it’s incredible we’ve picked up such a gem for nothing.
Defence – Turton, Lees, Colwill, Toffolo
Earlier this season it would have been unthinkable that Oli Turton would keep Pipa out of the side once the Spaniard was fit again but that’s the reality of the current situation. Pipa has missed too much football this season and has yet to hit his stride, whereas Turton has improved steadily after a fairly bumpy start to his Town career. I think Pipa is the better player of the two but Turton is a better defender and we need that more against Luton.
Matty Pearson’s injury is a serious blow even though he was dropped to the bench against Hull. Lees and Colwill are a decent pairing but we will be forced to rely on Naby Sarr if anything should happen to those two. Not that Sarr is an awful player but I think the whole team (and my own heart) have benefited from fewer moments of Sarr messing about with the ball at the back of the pitch. Lees and Colwill are both far more composed and make better decisions so hopefully they’ll both stay fit through this hectic period.
Having seen off a period where Josh Ruffels was close to nicking his starting spot, we’re back to Toffolo being the mainstay at leftback. There’s potential for some rotation if tiredness starts to kick in but Toffolo has to start tonight and every game where he’s fit enough to put in his usual work rate.
Midfield – Thomas, O’Brien, Hogg, Holmes
Jon Russell has been excellent at times this season and his good form forced him into contention and made it easier to edge Jonathan Hogg out of the starting eleven when his form dipped. I think we’ve seen a diminishing return on the faith placed in Russell lately and this game might be a good one to put him back on the bench and let Hoggy show what he can do. I’m a huge fan of the things that Russell does well, like his passing and the way he uses his body to protect the ball but his lack of pace and tendency to drop very deep have cost the team at times. He’s got huge potential and I want to see more of him in future games but now we’re getting into the crunch time of the season I’d prefer to see a seasoned campaigner like Hoggy take over in the middle of the park.
Lewis O’Brien obviously has to start but, in my opinion, he also has to start in his best position which is on the left of central midfield with a holding player sitting behind him. He can do a decent job as a left winger or a pressing number ten (and usually a poor job as a leftback) but it seems to me to be a huge waste of his talents to play him out of position to make up for weaknesses elsewhere on the park.
Another player that is an automatic selection is Sorba Thomas, who will hopefully have benefitted from the long gap between Hull and tonight’s game to get some much-needed rest. Thomas has looked, understandably, leggy over the last few Town games but even in those lacklustre games he still provides enough of a creative outlet to justify his selection. Hopefully we’ll see him back to his best tonight.
On the other wing I think it probably will be Duane Holmes. There’s not really a great option for that particular role given Koroma’s poor form, Anjorin’s continued injuries, Sinani’s lack of speed and all the other experiments we’ve tried in that area failing to some extent. While Holmes isn’t a natural winger, he’s pretty good at the inverted winger system where he has licence to drift into central areas and shoot with his right foot.
Attack – Ward and Sinani
Apparently Danny Ward’s absence for the Hull game was due to illness rather than injury so he should be straight back into the starting lineup. Jordan Rhodes didn’t shine in the Hull game so will most likely have to return to the bench. I remember when we signed Rhodes being surprised, as he’s not a typical lone striker kind of player but I thought the club had a master plan for him. Seemingly they didn’t, as we’ve still not really found a way to get the best out of him and he looks like a player that doesn’t suit the way Town play.
Rhodes was unstoppable at Town when he was partnered with a workhorse like Lee Novak or Alan Lee to do the dirty work. The difficult thing for Rhodes in his second spell is that Carlos expects all his players to be workhorses and that takes away from his ability to ghost into the box and get on the end of chances.
It’s even harder for Rhodes to make an impact as even when Town play 4-4-2, like I think they will today, the second striker is very rarely an actual striker and is instead a midfielder pushed higher up to put more pressure on the opposition back line. Sinani has probably been the best in this particular role this season and while I’m not his biggest fan, he has chipped in with a few assists and goals.
Maybe this will be the side chosen but it’s a side without a creative midfielder and would rely on the wings too much for attacks. We should not be going into this match just to defend so I would leave Hogg on the bench initially and leave Russell in the team. I would also like to see Anjorin in for Holmes as he can create and score as well if his previous hype is to be believed. The bench would then have Hogg, Holmes, Rhodes, Sarr and Pipa available which are all quite strong alternatives.
I wouldn’t be too bothered whether it’s Hogg or Russell both can be excellent but have their off days too. Eiting is arguably more creative than either but I don’t think he’s defensively solid enough to play as the holding midfielder.
As for Anjorin, I’d love him to come in and make a similar impact to Smith Rowe when he arrived but so far he looks badly out of shape and a bit cumbersome. He’ll almost certainly smash in a hat-trick tonight after I’ve said this but I’m unimpressed so far.
Anjorin to me looks like he is in the wrong sport and certainly not a soccer wing man maybe a rugby
Player or heavyweight boxer I would like to see Eiting Hogg has cost us games this season by simply passing the ball to the opposing side at vital times . Eiting passes the ball well with skill and good perception . He’s the guy for the Luton game
I’d like to see more of Eiting as he has quality on the ball that is rare at this level. Carlos hasn’t fancied him much lately though so I think he’ll be on the bench at best.
Based in what we’ve seen so far of Anjorin it’s hard to argue with your assessment of Anjorin. Surely there’s more to come or he wouldn’t be in Chelsea’s academy. So far he’s looked like a young Collin Quaner.