Backline blues

Eight goals conceded in two games tells its own sad story.

And this, from arguably one of the Championship’s most efficient defences prior to the collapse at Nottingham Forest last weekend.

Pearson tinkered with his back four for the visit of Bristol City on Tuesday evening, switching full backs Robbie Neilson and Bruno Berner for Michael Morrison and Ryan McGivern respectively.

Another heavy defeat followed for Pearson’s men, leaving him with some uncomfortable decisions to make ahead of Saturday’s crucial clash with strugglers Sheffield Wednesday. The trusty centre back partnership of Jack Hobbs and Wayne Brown suddenly no longer looks such a safe bet.

This is actually quite worrying, as for all our endeavours, finding the back of a net is quite a difficulty for our side. This season we have been masters of the one goal victory, a recipe for success which has for the most part, worked excellently. But it’s those boys at the back who must take the weight off the shoulders of Matty Fryatt and co. by keeping those pesky Championship strikers at bay.

I was so confident with our defence before the season began that I made a bet with myself that we wouldn’t concede three times in a match all season. Ambitious it certainly was, demonstrated by its occurrence three times so far this season.

But all is not lost. Players do not suddenly change overnight, which by my calculations means we still have one of the Championship’s best defences. A concoction of bad luck, applaudable opposition play and inidivudal errors have cost City dearly in the past three matches, but it is simply a bad spell on an otherwise superb season so far. Cardiff, Bristol City and Swansea have all had their bad spells and come out the other side, and now it’s our turn.

The past two games have, in a nutshell, been somewhat of a disaster, but there has never been a better time to face the out-of-sorts Sheffield Wednesday. Rumours of managerial turmoil have been rife this week, although Brian Laws still remains in the Hillsborough hot-seat for now. For how much longer remains to be seen.

This is a Wednesday side winless in eight, and without a goal in four. If this isn’t the opportunity for City to get back to winning ways then I really don’t know what is…