I was watching on a stream and went to carry on decorating when the first goal went in as I could tell from the start we weren't going to score. We're really missing Hackney, who carries the ball from midfield and we missed Jones, who despite his faults worries defenders and gets in behind. Neither Greenwood, Lath nor Rodgers have the experience/quality (yet) to show for the ball or hold up play on a regular basis and it's neither Howson's nor Barlaser's natural game to make the play, as Chaplin does for Ipswich. The only way we might catch them now is if he gets injured. Players like that make teams tick. Hackney is getting near to that category for us; he's young still though, so will have bad games.
We need Hackney and McGree back badly, though Jones back will help, and McNair had been outstanding before his injury. Clarke at the back, especially trying to play out worries me - you can see he wants to hoof it. We need defenders comfortable with Carrick's system. VdB & McNair looked good together - Dijksteel should be right back. I would put Coburn back in also, to help get is up the park. Lath has been a disappointment for me; I'm prepared to give him time but I think we may fall short of promotion this year unless we get a striker in with the right levels of composure/ruthlessness/smarts - not easy! That's the main area of concern for me. Apart from that, with all our players to choose from, I think we can properly compete with anyone in this league, Ipswich included, so I'm calm. Rodgers, Greenwood, Silvera are bench players for me, still learning how to harness their talent. It's rare a young player emerges fully-formed as it were, like Hackney has, which shows his quality - though he did learn his trade at struggling Scunthorpe.
As for slagging Carrick off, terrible. He is a class act. I love the way he completely fails to mention injuries, even though he must be tearing his hair out. I hope he is our manager for a very long time. I'm not especially confident for Hull or Swansea - who are both underrated sides for me - unless key players come back, though hopefully we'll have enough for Port Vale and then maybe by the semi, a few more back...? Imagine we get Newcastle and have Hackney, McGree, McNair and maybe a new non-cuptied striker in! Who knows?
Play-offs is our aim in the league now, but more than achievable. Leeds/Ipswich, ourselves, Southampton and West Brom.