Source: FOOTYMAD
Boothroyd's midfield headache
Who will replace Carsley? When Lee Carsley picked up his fifth yellow card of the season at Reading last week, his manager Aidy Boothroyd knew he would be have to play one game without his influential club captain while he served his mandatory one game suspension. Boothroyd has admitted he will miss his captain's leadership on the pitch, but he also claims he is spoilt for choice as to who he will play in that midfield role. Sammy Clingan is fit again after recovering from a knee operation and could be given the nod in Carsley's absence, but so could several other players. Aron Gunnarsson is another player who could start the game. The central role was his preferred place to play before was asked to play wide on the right by Boothroyd and whee he has been doing a fine job for his team. Another, albeit remote choice for Boothroyd is for him to give the exciting 17 year old Conor Thomas his debut, but his options also extend to playing the versatile Martin Cranie or a fit again David Bell in the midfield. “It’s giving me a headache thinking about it,” said Boothroyd. “It’s disappointing to lose Lee because he has been absolutely fantastic for us but by the end of the game on Saturday I hope we won’t have missed him too much." “You know you’re going to have injuries and suspensions at some stage and that’s always an opportunity for somebody else to make an impression. If you can ride out games and win without key players it shows the depth and quality of your squad. “I’ve got the option of switching it around a little bit now. Tactically there’s a lot of things we can do so I’ll look at a few formations and decide what I need to do to put out a team that can deal with Norwich’s strengths and exploit any weaknesses." // '); // ]]> “Because of the attitude of the players, the way they’re all fighting for places, I’m spoilt for choice up front, spooled for choice in the wide positions and now spooled for choice in midfield as well. That’s a very nice place to be but now it’s up to me to make sure I get the right balance.” “The little run we’re on is a really good opportunity, because the league’s starting to stretch a little bit and we want to make sure that we hang on to the leaders as long as we can.”
