Case For The Defence

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First the good news - Big Chris has been named The Championship's Player of the Month! There you go - we've won something! Iwelumo has been great for us so far and has shown the attitude and commitment we need at this level - keep it up.

It's a shame a number of questionable refereeing decisions have gone against him, Saturday's penalty claim for one. He seems to suffer from the 'Crouch Effect' - any time he jumps with a defender the ref can't help but give a foul against him. Anyway, get some more of those headers on target and he'll be a cert on the teamsheet.

So on to the bad part. 6 goals conceded in the last 2 home games would be grim reading for a club in the relegation spots, but when you're in 4th place with promotion aspirations you have to wonder when the rot will stop.

You can forgive the first few matches of the season, a spell where the team relied on simply scoring more than we let in. Any completely new back four needs time to gel, its not so long ago that Fortune struggled to get a first team place. And up until the 2 recent home games, gradual improvements were coming to the fold.

The first casualty from the early matches is McCarthy. He was found lacking for pace and skill and I can see him leaving in January. The second casualty in a more physical sense is the unlucky Moutaouakil. Our best player on the opening day, he was unfortunate to get injured so soon in the season away at Stoke. As a result, his return has been hindered by the surprise loan of Danny Mills who has generally impressed so far.

Confidence seemed to have been the main issue up until this point, and the loan signings of Mills and Sodje have strengthened us in 2 key areas:

1. Mills is confident on the ball, experienced, and knows how to handle himself at this level. This has filtered through to the rest of the defence. Ok, he lost it a bit on Saturday, but on the whole I think his influence has been positive

2. Sodje will attack anything with his head - even at ground level in some cases! He's not afraid to get stuck in, which is essential for this campaign

Whilst Fortune looks classy at times, pairing him with Bougherra in central defence was an accident waiting to happen and makes their occasional laziness apparent. They play too similarly - Fortune has always been prone to 'ball-watch', and having two players like this leaves you hideously exposed at set pieces. This is where Sodje has been a revelation and allows Fortune to do what he does best - tidy up and release the ball.

Where we are still weak is on the left. I really think Basey could be great for us this season, but he does lack experience and was tested at Preston. Powell will always be a legend, but he showed on Saturday that he still isn't 100% fit and might not last the distance. Lucklilly he'll only have Hasselbaink and Fowler to worry about tonight. ;)

So, what happened in the last 2 matches. My gut feeling is a 'blip' after getting things together so well in the previous games. It would be harsh to blame Sheffield United's goals on the back four, and despite poor marking I'm happy to give Burnley the credit for turning us over on Saturday. I really think the defence will be more than sufficient for the remainder of the campaign, especially with the added confidence from Weaver's performances. Before then we hadn't conceded a goal in 4 games, including 3 away outings.

The biggest worry is January. The 2 players who have made the biggest impact in the defence (Mills/Sodje) are loan signings, and we could lose them both. Losing half the defence at this time of year would be nothing short of catastrophic, especially when the likes of Ipswich will have money to spend.

I seriously hope we keep them both - Bougherra can't play with Fortune, Moutaouakil has promise but has only played 2 games, Basey is inexperienced, and more importantly there's no cover left after that! Corey Gibbs looks more likely to draw a pension before being seen in a Charlton shirt again.

Tonight's game is all important after 2 morale-sapping defeats, and the performance of our back line is sure to be well scrutinised by both Dave Jones and Alan Pardew at Ninian Park tonight. If there ever was a case for the defence, this is it...