All change

How is everyone? Got over it yet? No, me neither.

The excellent Valley Talk has listed five players that should feature at Burnley and it’s hard to argue with any of them. Even sulky Sordell deserves his chance, one of the few players proven at this level. At least the Bolton striker’s stock has risen after coming on Saturday and being an improvement on the tosh witnessed before then.

I have always been an advocate of Andy Hughes and I think we could do with the energy of young Cousins. Stephens being dropped is always a possibility, less likely for Pritchard, but I’d like to see Powell take a surgical knife to the team for the trip to Turf Moor. It’s vitally important that we move on, but the bad taste still lingers and some of players representing us on Saturday don’t deserve another chance for a while.

As for 3-5-2, I think we should abandon it, or at least put it back in the cupboard, if Kermorgant is not fit. The defensive blanket has hardly helped in the clean sheet stakes, although Hughes is our best player at prowling the defensive perimeter. Personally I’d also like to see some pace brought back into the side and like to see both Harriott and Stewart if they could be incorporated.

Good to see another contract handed out today. 21-year old goalkeeper Nick Pope has been rewarded with a new three year contract. Pope is well regarded and even without his high hair stands at almost 6ft 5in.