Did Brett miss his opportunity?

It was a bit of a surprise for many fans I expect to hear that Brett Pitman was to be picked ahead of Yann Kermorgant to start at Wolves. Was it a tactical choice because of the way Wolves play? Was it because Yann Kemorgant was feeling it after last week? Or did Eddie Howe want to give a message that competition for places was really close among the players and any one could find themselves on the bench?

Whatever the reason, Brett had the chance to hold down a starting place perhaps for the next match or two if he could have a decent game. The first half though did not go that well for Brett with his passes struggling to find an AFCB shirt and he was left to chase after the ball quite frequently. In the second half too there was moment when I believe Bakaray Sako decided t have some fun in running around Brett and making him follow him about, as he tricked his way past the Channel Islander with admirable skill.

Pitman has to make more of his chances.

It was not all bad though for Brett. As the game progressed he did start to get more into the action and began to win some important knock downs in the box, and gradually he played his part in what turned out to be a really good away win. It will be annoying for him though that he did not have many shots on goal and the one I remember in the first half was skied well over the bar. He did not escape Andrew Surman's wrath either when he was not pushing up on the left wing as much as Surman wanted him to. Eddie Howe was waving frantically at the time for AFCB's players not to defend so deep.

How many chances a forward gets in a team is always pretty limited though when there is other options and I am not sure if the win will have saved Brett a starting place for the Cardiff match. Eddie will have wanted to see Brett's finishing more in evidence at Wolves, and I just feel that Yann Kermorgant made an impact when he came on.

Brett will have better games and it is important that he keeps pushing for a place, because he may have a very valuable part to play this season. He has already contributed a few goals and using different combinations of strikers for Championship games can only make it easier when there are injuries and everyone feels comfortable knowing each others game when the pairings change. Keep at it Brett!