Disappointing

Following Jackson finally being made permanent he was rewarded with Covid infections depriving him of three players, two of whom are central to the team. Clearly it disrupted the set up and plans.

Sadly, a reasonable opening half hour or so aside it was a rather lacklustre performance with one or two failing to take their opportunity. That’s not what we expect under Jacko and he will have been disappointed.

We didn’t deserve to be behind at the break but did little in the second half to deserve anything from the game. One has to feel for those fans who made the long journey down to Devon. 

The match served to highlight how outside a small core group of players the back up is a little weak. Clearly, there’s work to be done in the January transfer window.

It would be good to be able to move one or two players on but I’m not sure how easy that will be in this window. We need to recruit another striker and that has to be a proven goalscorer. That won’t be easy.

If we have better luck with injuries we shouldn’t require another centre half but a repeat could continue to leave a little exposed there at times.

Great uncertainty remains in the meantime over the actual playing of games. A decision needs to be made regarding that as Covid is making the outcomes of games something of a lottery. This isn’t the same as getting run of the mill injuries.

No one wants to see games cancelled or played behind closed doors but a small break might be needed to stem the rise in infections and to also prevent a distortion to the league with games coming down to the luck of the draw in respect of infections.

I hope you all have a peaceful and restful Christmas with your families.