Loft is (literally) head and shoulders above his team-mates but really needs a strike partner in a 4-4-2. Not sure why he came off with five minutes left when he was the only real striker and had shown he can produce a goal out of nothing, which was really the only way we were going to win at the point.
Eisa, Gillead and Hippolyte were playing out of position but did the best they could, I thought.
The centre backs were OK with balls through the middle but the defence is still fragile on wide play.
Newport deserved to win; we dodged a couple of bullets. They weren’t great but their coaching looks better than ours. Still a lot of work to do.
I would like to see how McAtee plays alongside Loft; that could work well.
Colclough was out of position due to the last minute changes, but needs to be playing wide. I didn’t think he looked that interested, to be honest. Looked a bit grumpy at not having the team set around him. I still have some faith in him, but Eisa is far better so Colclough would probably work best coming on with 15 mins left to dribble past tired full backs.
Butroid was disappointing. Bedeau poor. Cordner was very good and would work well if Onariase is more defensive. Vincent was busy and interesting.
So, when we are full strength it could be a reasonable first team. Nothing that looks promotion challenging, but something far more than I was expecting six months ago. Looking forward to it!
