Three points, injuries and Hereford

I've had a couple of days now to reflect on Saturday's game and our start to life in the third tier of English football. It's difficult to add to what most of the blogs have said already, but here is a brief summary of my thoughts:

Positives

- After a visit to the club shop, I can confirm that I like our new kit, both home and away.

- The attendance was very encouraging indeed. Those who thought they could turn up half an hour before and walk straight up to the counter and get a ticket must have been bitterly disappointed when met with a queue around the block.

- In the first half, and for the first half of the second half, we played some decent, attractive football and didn't really give Wycombe a sniff.

- Two goals from two debutants is good news and to an extent, Parkinson has proved a point with his recruits. Dailly in particular I thought looked impressive.

- We got three points.

Negatives

- We never make it easy on ourselves do we?! I can't have been the only one in need of a stiff drink once the final whistle had blown. The game should have been done and dusted at half time, but we conceded two goals at two crucial times, and as such it seemed a bit of a laboured victory. Full marks to Rob Elliot (who I thought had looked shaky on crosses) for two world class saves in the last fifteen minutes, as well as two off the line stops, but I was a nervous wreck by the end of the game.

- We didn't really get a big enough performance out of some of the players. Given the transfer interest surrounding him, much of the attention will fall on Jonjo Shelvey, but I'm afraid he didn't live up to billing on Saturday. Deon Burton had a quiet game up front, and Kelly Youga continues to frustrate.

- I'm not really sure Parkinson's double substitution made sense. Why go from a 4-5-1 to a 4-4-2 when you are effectively looking to close a game out a 3-1 up? Surely a player like Matt Spring is made for those kind of circumstances? I won't dwell on Gray's miss, it's only game one after all.

- It was pretty sad to see such a visible reduction in match day staff, as well as the big screen being out of action.

Probably the worst thing to come out of Saturday's match however, has been the injuries we have sustained as a result of it. For Phil Parkinson to say we are now down to 'bare bones' for tomorrow night's match against Hereford, after one game, is pretty shocking. For the past few weeks, I've been suggesting (to the point where I've been sick of writing it) that we do not have adequate cover in defence. So for Christian Dailly, Miguel Angel Llera and Frazer Richardson ALL to get injured in the first game (albeit with varying degress of seriousness) is pretty galling.

Fortunately tomorrow is a League Cup game rather that a League One game, and Parkinson is likely to use the opportunity to give the likes of Yado Mambo and Chris Solly a run out. Had the game been in the league however, I wonder how comfortable would have been in starting them. Regardless, the need for reinforcements at the back is clear and it needs to happen sooner or later. Sam Sodje is currently a free agent - surely someone like him could do a job for us?

Like most of the nation's fans, I'm pretty apathetic towards the League Cup, although I would like to see us notch a win and maintain the momentum from Saturday. It also gives an opportunity for some players to prove a point, and other to stake a claim for a place in the starting XI. An embarassing defeat does nobody any good, so here's hoping for a safe and injury free passage into round two before we start concentrating on Saturday's trip to Hartlepool.