GOALKEEPING
I have never seen so many players wear the keepers jersey in one season let alone in the first third of a season. Resident keeper Gareth Stewart is injured. In came Chris Tardif on loan from Portsmouth, Jamie Ashdown on loan from Reading and now Neil Moss is on loan from Southampton. Not to mention Marcus Browning who had to deputise when Tardif was carried off during the Worthy Cup match against Brentford!!
DEFENCE
Shaun Maher before his injury was superb, and now Carl Fletcher (our Captain) deputising from mid field has been inspired at the back.
MIDFIELD
After years of seeing youngsters coming through, breaking in to the team and disappearing again, it has been great to see youngster Brian Stock take full advantage of his run in the squad. Such a shame that an appendix op has broken that. he'll find it difficult to break back in to the line up as the current midfield centres (Marcus Browning and Gareth O'Connor) have been superb.
ATTACK
The loss of Warren Feeney and teenage sensation Alan Connell have been a bitter blows for The Cherries as both were in fine form before injury. Feeney twisted an ankle during the wash out Donni match in the FA Cup, and Connell suffered cruciate ligament damage away to Leyton Orient. But the cavalry has arrived in the form of big centre forward Steve Fletcher, who is a handful for any central defender and Jamie Hayter who equalled a Club record by scoring 4 away to Bury (we won 5-2) in a single match a couple of seasons ago!!
As for what we expect from this Saturdays match against Scunthorpe United, naturally we are hoping to be able to maintain our third place, and hopefully close the gap on Rushden and Hartlepool as we endeavour to bounce back to Division 2 at the first attempt. The history of results between Bournemouth and Scunthorpe would suggest a draw (9 games drawn out of 15 meetings at Dean Court), but a home win would be most useful.
UP THE CHERRIES - IN ALL DEPARTMENTS!!!
Andy Burton - Exiles Club