It's nearly here...
Are you nervous yet? I myself didn't sleep very well last night, although I think that had more to do with the late dinner we had at Anatolia than any kind of Wembley-related anxiety.
Apparently some people have been taking their mind off the match by distributing an army of gnomes around the city. Whatever floats your boat I suppose - I'm just hoping that the amber army dwarfs the support from Torquay, and that Gary Brabin pixies the right team for the occasion.
The elf (sorry) of Danny Potter seems to be a bit of a concern ahead of tomorrow's match, with the club having drafted in Adam Bartlett to provide experienced cover. Obviously you'd prefer not to have to change your keeper for the most important game of the season, but Bartlett comes highly rated and I'm sure will do a decent job if called upon.
Knowing the Brabinator's predeliction for tinkering, I wouldn't put it past him to decide that now is the time to unleash his new 2-1-3-1-3 reverse Christmas tree sweeper formation. But assuming he doesn't have a brain storm, the team mostly picks itself, save for two positions: the left wing and up front.
It's probably a straight fight between the Pitt and Parky for the left flank role. I'm a big fan of Courtney, so would probably stick with him from the start, with Parky to come off the bench if required. The latter has rarely been very effective when starting a game anyway, and it having a natural left-footer offers much better balance. We can only hope that the Pittster has one of his good days if he does play.
Up front I guess Brabin is likely to stick with Rendell and Phillips, but I think that I would bring Holroyd back at the expense of the ex-Torquay striker. The Gulls defenders are big boys, and seemed to cope well with Histon's strong arm tactics in the second leg of their play-off semi final. So it would seem to me that the pace of Holroyd is more likely to trouble them than the power of Phillips. Plus the big pitch at Wembley would give super Chris plenty of space in which to operate.
Whoever plays, let's hope they perform a bit better than the shambles of last season. I think I can (just about) handle us losing again, so long as we do ourselves justice this time. Que se ra, se ra, and all that.
