The big 8-0 win against Basingstoke in the Hampshire Senior Cup was great not only for the win and the form of Gavin Kilkenny, but also for the return of Lloyd Kelly and Simon Francis. Whether either of them could get into Eddie Howe's plans for Southampton is perhaps doubtful, but at least Eddie will have more options in the next month for sure.
The situation with Simon Francis is perhaps a little different as the club captain. We know that Simon can run through walls and will be very keen to get on the pitch for the first team again. He may have to wait for an opening with Ake and Steve Cook unlikely to relinquish their spots, and it will be intriguing to see if Francis would want to step back into his old right back position. While Jack Stacey has only had one game for AFCB in the Premier League he already has pressure to keep the shirt. Eddie may just have to way up who is less likely to make a mistake at Southampton.
While swapping and changing the line up all the time won't help. I wouldn't be surprised to see Francis back on the bench for the Southampton game and if AFCB are stretched for defenders there is a good likelihood that Kelly could also make the squad for Friday night. We now just need Howe to work out how the back four can get a clean sheet.
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We had a winer last time - can we do it again? Predict the correct score for Southampton v AFCb to be in with a chance to win a Cherry Chimes T-Shirt. If more than one person has the correct score we will pick from a hat. Just send in your prediction to @CherryChimes on Twitter
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| Captain Simon Francis is close to make a full return for AFCB. |
Lloyd would have to get past Diego Rico to win a starting place at AFCB and that might not be so easy on recent evidence with Rico topping the stats for passes, interceptions and assists in the last match against Everton. Infact, you could sat Rico should ave two assists as he put the ball down for Ryan Fraser to score Bournemouth's second goal as well as setting up Callum for the third goal against Everton. Rico deserves another go and should keep his place, but the speed and agility of Kelly cold soon become irresistible for Howe as he seeks to find a defence that is strong in attack as well as defence.
The situation with Simon Francis is perhaps a little different as the club captain. We know that Simon can run through walls and will be very keen to get on the pitch for the first team again. He may have to wait for an opening with Ake and Steve Cook unlikely to relinquish their spots, and it will be intriguing to see if Francis would want to step back into his old right back position. While Jack Stacey has only had one game for AFCB in the Premier League he already has pressure to keep the shirt. Eddie may just have to way up who is less likely to make a mistake at Southampton.
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We had a winer last time - can we do it again? Predict the correct score for Southampton v AFCb to be in with a chance to win a Cherry Chimes T-Shirt. If more than one person has the correct score we will pick from a hat. Just send in your prediction to @CherryChimes on Twitter
At no point should franno be considered at Right back! He doesn't have the pace and he's been burned the past 4 seasons when he's played there
ReplyDeleteI agree as great a player he was for us he gets beaten on pace
ReplyDelete