Injuries aside, on the evidence of the first two competitive matches it looks like Platt & Macari, Baker & McDonald will have to work hard to try to dislodge Gibbons, Ness & Bedeau from the starting eleven.

Platt is a class act so he will have a much better chance of dislodging one of the three that have played very well so far. McDonald held the number one spot for periods last season with his impressive displays, so he'll have something to say. Baker will be keen to impress as he has been on the bench waiting for an opportunity.

Sometimes injuries happen & opportunities open up. It just depends whether Platt & Macari can recover well & get back to full fitness after such a long layoff. Then there is McDonald and Baker to consider.

It will be fascinating to see how Head Coach Martin Paterson handles it. One thing's for sure, the fight for places at the back may well become very competitive with 7 players vying for 3 places, but Martin always has the back four option to consider.

It’s a nice conundrum for Paterson to have, it’s really encouraging that we have good players competing for those defensive positions, I think the midfield area is the same, if only we could have the same competition up front.

Don't forget Browne as well!

It's good to have options in this department. The way Ness has matured into a first 11 player has been impressive and I don't think it's a given that Platt and Macari will be straight back in the team when fit.

My crystal ball shows some relegation-threatened Championship side making a big move for the Rolls-Royce Nessy - Portsmouth, Bristol City or similar

With such strength in depth at the CB position, it's the kind of thing the club should be hoping for

2 hours ago, theAnticlough said:

My crystal ball shows some relegation-threatened Championship side making a big move for the Rolls-Royce Nessy - Portsmouth, Bristol City or similar

With such strength in depth at the CB position, it's the kind of thing the club should be hoping for

Should be looking at a million or two from a championship side.

What a contrast to the striker situation. There is more about who starts in the first place.

38 minutes ago, Robbie said:

Should be looking at a million or two from a championship side.

Yeah, now we're in L1 that's the target market so to speak. It's far rarer for Championship clubs to spend the the money trickling down on players 2 levels below.

I think we'll need a few more sales over the next couple of seasons to sustain our upward progress. It'll need coordination between the coach and recruitment to 'feature' certain players for a while, with solid replacements waiting in the wings.

As well as injuries, suspensions come into it. Bedeau has a habit of picking up cards for dissent. Gibbons will get cards for his aggressive style.

McDonald will be the backup for those three for a few months at least given long term injuries, which is a great option to have. Baker will have to really shine in EFL Trophy games to get a look in.

It's incredible how Ness has come on - he just needs to keep doing it. He got a big chunk of the blame (though it was well spread around) when we lost 0-4 at Cambridge, and he gave the penalty away early on at Chesterfield. Since that moment he's been a revelation but that's just five competitive games, albeit very high profile ones.

Browne is an intriguing one, he has been thrown into midfield a few times but there's so much competition there now - could we afford to loan him out?

You never know with long-term injuries how much of an impact they can have, especially with ACL injuries, I think it'll be hard for Platt and Macari because they'll be coming back in middle to back end of the season when there's no friendlies (EFL Trophy) to build up match fitness. They'll basically go from training to being thrown straight back in having not played for months.

I have been impressed with Ness and I think he is more suited to playing in the middle of the back three, if he stays fit he's got the potential to really make that spot his own. A bit like with Bedeau at left centre-back, which feels like the one issue for me, who is Bedeau's main competition? Is it McDonald by default as he is the only other left-footed defender? I still see him more as being the central centre-back.

To me it feels to me we’ve got Browne, Macari, Gibbons and Baker all competing for the RCB spot. Ness, McDonald and Platt for the CB spot and Bedeau is just chilling!

Agreed about Bedeau @menzinho .

We were in the Sirrel on Saturday and so saw a lot of him in the first half. In my view he was a little bit ponderous at times and his first pass was not accurate which put Lipsuic and the other midfielders under pressure straight away. Love the clever passing around the press which does create space, but you have to be both really quick and accurate to achieve it.

So sometimes aerial down the wing for a striker to chase is not a bad option?