Don't forget, we also looked fairly good under Hammell for a handful of games at the start of the season. Hopefully Kettlewell won't run out of ideas like he did.
I like the way that Kettlwell has managed our most disappointing players i.e. O'Donnell and Slattery. He could easily have punted them into the reserves but - despite knowing full well how poor they were recently - he put his trust in them and put them on to defend leads. They both seem to have responded well.
Butcher as a holding midfielder and Cornelius working with him with his energy is a step in the right direction. If Goss is playing wide left then I would have preferred to see McKinstry or Crankshaw out there instead.
I think that saying he's been dreadful is overstating it a wee bit. He's been left completely exposed by a poor defence way more than he was last season. His distribution has deteriorated markedly though, his pinpoint passing was a real feature when he arrived on loan.
I'd pencil in Oxborough for league cup games next season to give him first team experience.
This season the only change that I'd make in goal is giving the armband to an outfielder and let Kelly focus on his own performances.
I was thinking 4-4-2 as well but with Danzaki instead of Spittal as he's much more mobile and possibly Obika instead of KvV. The old school little and large pairing upfront is something that is worth a try.
Looking at the other games this weekend there is a chance that our relegation rivals will all drop points. We need to hope that our marginally better away form gives us a chance tomorrow.