Francis had to roll up his sleeves up against Kightly

Simon Francis must wonder if he is getting singled out every week with the amount of top class wingers he has been up against. At Burnley it was Michael Kightly that was more than a handful on the left wing. Still Francis stuck to his task and while he was beaten on a few occasions by the tricky winger, Francis began to get closer and closer to him and before long it was turning into quite a battle.

I like the way Francis goes forward, but I do feel that this season he is being tested like never before on his defensive qualities. Being in the Championship will make him a better player and this season he is surely finding it a big challenge, but as he learns he should start to pick up some of the tricks that his opponents use and should start to dominate them. It may be that this season he will get caught out at times.

I do hope that Wes Fogen becomes available for selection soon just so that Francis knows that there is someone pressing him for his place in the team. It is not by coincidence that Francis has made 17 appearances this season in all competitions and he is a key player for AFCB. He is having to do much of his learning though on the pitch and I would hope that players like Ian Harte are able to give him some good advice on how he should be tackling some of the wingers in the Championship.

Simon Francis is not having it all his own way this season.