Hello! We've had the International Break, now we're very much getting back into the swing of things with the games coming as quickly as they are this month. We're headed down to the Cottage to face "them lot down the road" but this game is so much more than a derby for both teams- and we both still desperately need points to achieve our respective goals position wise, so we can't let the sense of occasion overwhelm us and we need to stay focused on what is really important- the three points.
A lot's happened since the Huddersfield Review, so I'll talk about all of it in this Preview. I suppose the main thing to happen was the various Loans that went through. I do rate Amorebieta as a Centre-Back to an extent, especially for Championship level- but he simply isn't good enough at Left-Back in my opinion and I'm still not sure how fit he is; so I think depending on if Boro go up we may end up with Amorebieta next season as well in which case I'd use him as a Centre-Back but for the time being I'm more than happy to see the back of him.
The other side to the Amorebieta Loan Deal was bringing in James Husband, I'm not going to claim I have a great in-depth knowledge of Husband, but judging from what other people have said about him he could be a perfect fit for us. Again this is what other people have said, he's a good crosser of the ball and he's a natural left-back- that's all we really need at this stage, especially now we've got someone that can actually win balls in the air playing up front. The two deadline day signings were a bit peculiar, however having a week to think about them I'm on board with them- to an extent. It was weird us signing Danny Guthrie just because it's a player I actually know a lot about, the main worry where Guthrie's concerned is his fitness- that said I do think Guthrie is a relatively low risk Loan, I think he'll essentially rotate with Parker in order to keep both guys fresh- and if Guthrie performs in the games we're giving him we sign him in the Summer; and if we don't we pack him off back to the Madejski. The Richard Lee one was bizarre, however I think I know why we've done it- with Lee retiring at the end of the season he may be looking for a coaching role so we've brought him in on essentially a trial basis to see how he beds into the squad and provided he doesn't ruffle any feathers he'll be part of the coaching setup next season.
Now onto the actual game itself, and to see how many- if any of the new Loan Signings actually make it into the Starting XI.
Even if we'd signed Richard Lee to play, which I highly doubt he wouldn't be eligible for tomorrow anyway- so I guess we'll just have to settle for Bettinelli continuing. It's crazy when you think about where Bettinelli had played before this season and how he's now firmly got his place in the Starting XI for us- and will hopefully be one of our key players for years to come; and he's now gone on to start (and keep a Clean Sheet) for the England U21s in the last break.
I've already spoken about the Husband/Amorebieta switch, so the biggest news to come out of Kit's Press Conference from a defensive point of view is that Jazz Richards still has the injury that made him withdraw from the Wales Squad. This means Jack Grimmer will keep his place in the team from the Huddersfield game. Grimmer was definitely quite shaky against Huddersfield but he'd played in the Bolton game and I think the game before that was the Sunderland Cup Game- so with such limited game time I would've been more surprised if he'd managed to just slot back into the team. That said I thought he grew into the game so hopefully he can cope with the wide threat Brentford do pose. With the Hutchinson suspension we're pretty much back to the Partnership I wanted to happen when we signed Turner with Bodurov and Turner- and with the 2 Game Ban for Hutchinson I'm hoping Bodurov can properly stake his claim on the Centre-Back role. Then we come to Left-Back and I think James Husband will get his debut tomorrow- and it'll be interesting to see how he performs.
The Midfield is interesting now, especially with the new Loan Signing of Danny Guthrie in to shake things up. Scott Parker is the guaranteed starter, with the long break there won't be any major concerns over his fitness. The game I'd consider resting Parker in is the Charlton game just because the Wigan and Rotherham games we have after could still define our season so we'll need everyone at 100%. I also think Tunnicliffe is fairly safe in his starting role- and especially in the type of game we're most likely going to get tomorrow we'll need a player like Tunnicliffe with his work-rate in the Midfield to stop us being completely overrun. The other midfield spot is a bit less obvious with so many people vying for it. I wouldn't have Danny Guthrie coming in just yet, granted I haven't seen him in training since he signed for us. I'd start Fofana, he really impressed me when he came on against Huddersfield- and now he's got his first goal I'm hoping he'll calm down a bit and get his head up a bit more when on the ball- and contrast him to Hoogland and the game we're going to find ourselves in tomorrow I think Fofana will have more of an impact on the game. Given Bryan's now publicised back issues and the fact he was in Panama just two days ago I doubt he's going to be fully fit for tomorrow- as such I'd Kacaniklic play in the #10 Role and play in a role that would mean he and McCormack can switch positions at will in order to get in behind the Brentford defensive line.
Speaking of McCormack, now he's back after his injury I'm hoping he'll have picked up a bit after the mini rest because between his Forest injury and his Hat-Trick I thought he'd looked quite jaded- but given I think he's played either the most or joint most games for us this season it is understandable. As I've already said with Husband it makes such a difference having someone who's good in the air up front in Matt Smith who's part in both goals against Huddersfield shouldn't be underestimated. I was trying to work out a way for Woodrow to be in the XI because I do see a lot of value in him as a starter, however I simply couldn't find a spot for him.
Team for Brentford
Bettinelli
Grimmer, Bodurov, Turner, Husband
Tunnicliffe, Parker, Fofana
Kacaniklic
Smith McCormack
Yes, Tomorrow is a big game- I'd be highly surprised if the attendance for tomorrow was south of 20,000. But, we need to treat it as any other game- because come 5 O'Clock it's the same number of points on offer; and especially with our Red Card record this season we can't afford to be overwhelmed by the occasion.
Thanks for reading as always, we're back with the Fulham Posts after the Internationals and these'll be going right through til the end of the season hopefully as strong as ever. It's not that I'm devaluing the derby tomorrow- but if we focus on the occasion rather than the game we're going to get another Red Card and we'll end up with no points, which we simply can't afford to do given we're not out of the mire just yet despite the win over Huddersfield. Thanks again for reading, and lets hope the Review tomorrow is a positive one.
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