Let's get the worst out of the way. A number in claret and amber had off days. McDonald and Taylor failed to shine and Ainsworth, excepting a couple of runs, had such poor service that he was ineffective. Thomas will not look back on this game with fond memories, few of his moves brought success. Even Ripley managed to kick the ball into touch.
In a pre-match interview the manager let it be known that he expected the opposition to be fast to press and quick to second balls. He was correct in that analysis but we seemed unable to counter those tactics.
On the plus side the substitutions at least had us competing. The combination of Moult and Robinson gave us plenty of pace in attack and the pair kept the County defence busy. Johnson was on the field for a productive 30 minutes and assisted with the equaliser. Lasley's injury time delivery for the winger capped a decent performance from the captain. His value to the team is not diminished.
With seven league games behind us and seven points in the bag we are in the same position as at this stage last season. The parallels end with that statistic as the nature of the teams, then as compared to now, is very different. A year ago we had a small squad toiling with a manager who, by his own admission, could not see a way forward. Staleness had crept in following two great campaigns.
Now we have a fresh management in charge of an enlarged squad with lots of players keen to make their mark. Pearson is still in recovery but with the inclusion of Grimshaw we should have a decent midfield engine available. The competition for striking positions is intense and Moult’s achievement of four in four in a team that has yet to find form should not be underestimated.
There are plenty of reasons to believe that we are still ‘work in progress’ and that the perilous end that arrived last season can be avoided.