A number of United’s first-team squad will get minutes into legs this afternoon in a reserve that we’ll be reporting from after the full-time whistle has blown.
“Some lads will get minutes and hopefully we can keep everybody up to speed by doing that, and then we’ll see what comes for next weekend,” manager Paul Simpson explained.
"It’s a fantastic opportunity for players to play. It’s what we need because you can only do so much in training. They need to be playing.
"I know there’s a lot of frustration for some players because they aren’t playing, but we’ve got a really good side going out there today.
"It’s all of the lads who haven’t been involved in the first team. That’s Jokull Andresson, Ben Barclay, Taylor Charters, Kai Nugent, Jack Ellis, Corey Whelan, Jayden Harris, Terry Ablade, Dan Butterworth, Jack Robinson and Joe Garner.
"That’s a strong side and we want them all to go and do it properly. I want them to put on a performance that gets 90 minutes of match stuff that we need to get out of them."
And, of course, it's an opportunity to make a statement ahead of the weekend trip to Port Vale.
"That’s right, everybody knows the position we’re in at the moment," he commented. "We haven’t had our first win yet, so we’re looking for the right permutation to help us get that.
"I’ve told the players that we aren’t a million miles away, we’ve shown good control in the games so far this season. We’ve kept the ball well, but as I keep repeating, we just lack a little bit at certain times.
"Maybe that’s the step up, or maybe a bit of confidence that’s lacking, or a bit of belief. I don’t really know, but I honestly do think that we’re doing ok. But it is just ok at the moment."
On Dylan McGeouch, he commented: "He will stay here and train all week. We’re going to have quite a physical training day today, where we can manage his load.
"We can modify it for him in bits of it if we need to. He’ll have a good week, it might be too soon for him for the weekend, but we’ll see how he gets on.
"Everybody else is fine, we had a couple of bangs, contact style injuries from the weekend, but everybody is training, so hopefully we’ll be ok.
"Like I say, Kai is playing, which is good. He did really well in pre-season until he picked up his injury.
“It would be good to get him back and then we can make a decision as to what we’re going to do with him.
“Overall this week is a chance for us to just breathe and take stock of what’s gone on over this last few weeks,” he added.
“It gives everybody a bit of a rest time as well and hopefully everybody will be fine come next weekend.”
