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Tricky one for Evatt this. Having been knocked out of the FA Cup in the first round for the last 6 seasons with us and Barrow before that, Evatt must be tempted to put out a strong team, but we have Shrewsbury away on the Tuesday and he might also be thing of giving a few players a rest so it'll be interesting to see what team he picks.
Solihull are sitting 4th in the National League above the likes of Rochdale, Halifax and Oldham but have had some mixed results recently and were battered 5 nil away at a resurgent Southend last week but won their last one. Their team seems to be a mixture of young players who been at "bigger clubs" and a couple of old heads like defender Richard Stearman (now 36) who's played in the Prem. Sadly we won't be seeing a return of our own Connor Hall who they've sent out on loan. Their goalkeeping coach is Kevin Poole FYI. This is the club who had our goalie Baxter for a season and gave Loughborough University graduate Dapo Afolayan his professional break before selling him on to West Ham the following year.
Comments from a Solihull fan in reply to my questions:
"Moors' squad underwent a significant overhaul in the summer, with the keeper and both first choice centre backs for the past few seasons moving on, as did the manager. The new manager was unproven at this level, having only managed lower down the pyramid but he's had a very positive start to his reign and our league performance so far has exceeded even the most optimistic of fans.
We actually seem to get better results away from home than at home, bar a recent pasting at Southend (who are much better than their league position implies, given their 10 point penalty).
In recent seasons, we've given very good accounts of ourselves in the FA cup against League One opposition, running Luton Town, Blackpool, and Rotherham close. It feels like one of these seasons we'll claim a considerable scalp of an EFL team, but I'm not sure it will be Bolton's this season.
Formation-wise, we've mainly been playing with 3 at the back and wingbacks. Up top we've started with anything from 1 to 3 forwards. Mark Beck is the big target man, and Josh Kelly his smaller, speedy foil who provides the main goal threat. Jamey Osborne is the playmaker in the middle of the park and is expect to see Gus Mafuta alongside him in the holding role"
Solihull will probably bring a few hundred and have already sold out the club's coaches.
In recent years we've put out weakened teams in the FA Cup and paid the price, but I reckon we have more depth in the squad these days so we should have enough to progress to the second round for the first time in years - but it is a potential banana skin because they're no mugs.
Solihull are sitting 4th in the National League above the likes of Rochdale, Halifax and Oldham but have had some mixed results recently and were battered 5 nil away at a resurgent Southend last week but won their last one. Their team seems to be a mixture of young players who been at "bigger clubs" and a couple of old heads like defender Richard Stearman (now 36) who's played in the Prem. Sadly we won't be seeing a return of our own Connor Hall who they've sent out on loan. Their goalkeeping coach is Kevin Poole FYI. This is the club who had our goalie Baxter for a season and gave Loughborough University graduate Dapo Afolayan his professional break before selling him on to West Ham the following year.
Comments from a Solihull fan in reply to my questions:
"Moors' squad underwent a significant overhaul in the summer, with the keeper and both first choice centre backs for the past few seasons moving on, as did the manager. The new manager was unproven at this level, having only managed lower down the pyramid but he's had a very positive start to his reign and our league performance so far has exceeded even the most optimistic of fans.
We actually seem to get better results away from home than at home, bar a recent pasting at Southend (who are much better than their league position implies, given their 10 point penalty).
In recent seasons, we've given very good accounts of ourselves in the FA cup against League One opposition, running Luton Town, Blackpool, and Rotherham close. It feels like one of these seasons we'll claim a considerable scalp of an EFL team, but I'm not sure it will be Bolton's this season.
Formation-wise, we've mainly been playing with 3 at the back and wingbacks. Up top we've started with anything from 1 to 3 forwards. Mark Beck is the big target man, and Josh Kelly his smaller, speedy foil who provides the main goal threat. Jamey Osborne is the playmaker in the middle of the park and is expect to see Gus Mafuta alongside him in the holding role"
Solihull will probably bring a few hundred and have already sold out the club's coaches.
In recent years we've put out weakened teams in the FA Cup and paid the price, but I reckon we have more depth in the squad these days so we should have enough to progress to the second round for the first time in years - but it is a potential banana skin because they're no mugs.
