Peterborough United are facing a defensive crisis after Tom Lees pulled up pre-match with a calf injury before their match against Bradford City at Valley Parade.
The 35-year-old defender left the ground on crutches, indicating a possible lengthy lay-off.
Posh lost the match 2-0, but it could have been much worse. Only the brilliance of goalkeeper Alex Bass prevented a much bigger scoreline.
Posh are currently without captain Sam Hughes and fellow defenders Rio Adebisi, Harley Mills, Jacob Mendy, and now Tom Lees.
They are also missing midfielders Ben Woods and Matt Garbett – two players who have been influential this season.
At Bradford, George Nevett played alongside David Okagbue in the centre of defence. The 20-year-old had a tough game, with his lack of pace ruthlessly exposed by the Bantams attack.
Posh faced 29 shots in the game against Bradford, and they face a daunting trip to Oakwell to face Barnsley next.
Peterborough Telegraph reporter Alan Swann has predicted that boss Luke Williams could tweak the formation to try and stem the tide.
Posh currently play in a 3-4-1-2 system, but Williams said at the recent fans forum that his preferred formation is actually 3-4-3.
He revealed that he can’t implement it because the club has too many full-backs and wingers.
Could now be the time to try a new system?
Swann suggests sticking with the 3-4-1-2 but using three centre-backs instead.
In his formation, Carl Johnston would be back on the right after a stint as a makeshift left-back.
Nevett would play in the middle, something that Swann thinks would disguise his lack of pace, and on the left would be the versatile Okagbue.
Alternatively, James Dornelly and Lucca Mendonca could come in for Johnston and Nevett respectively in Swann’s formation.
In the Lower Tiers’ view, this formation would work quite well. Nevett needs an experienced head alongside him, and he would get that in Johnston.
However, Mendonca has shown a lot of promise and is a good alternative if Nevett is dropped after his horror show at Bradford.
