An indication of the manager’s frame of mind could be gleaned from the fact that it took him a good half hour to emerge from the post-match team talk to face his round of media interviews. As ever, he gave a fair assessment of the game and he didn’t shirk from pointing out those areas of the team where problems need to be resolved.
If he had any doubts then any of the reported away crowd of 249 would have been happy to give him a pointer or two...or three.
Our ability to lose goals from set pieces is a major concern, yet with Hutchinson, McManus and Ramsden we have plenty of height available. If needed, Sutton can be called in to give added strength when the need to defend a high ball arises. McCall has thrown down a challenge to these players and to their defensive partners to sort out their problems and warned that he'll make changes if needed.
In the middle of the park we lacked any spark and spent most of the game chasing the opposition while they looked comfortable in possession. It is said that McFadden is carrying an injury and that he's not fully fit. It is certainly the case that he contributed nothing to Saturday's game. He made a few forward runs but the Inverness defenders soon had him on the floor making unanswered appeals to the referee.
The least said of our attacking threat the better. Anier managed pass marks for his early second half contribution but as the game wore on it became ever more likely that we would not score. Sutton's job seems to be as a collected with his back to goal but thereafter his options were limited. McHugh saw so little off the ball in his 45 minute spell that he had no effect on the game and it seems certain that he'll be on the bench when Partick Thistle visit.
The manager is well aware of the current shortcomings and he'll be doing everything possible to add to the squad before the window closes. It could be that his actions in the next few days turn out to be crucial to our success or failure over the next few months.
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