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When Neil Lennon begins to draw up his wish list for potential new faces in January, he is sure to have a firm eye on bolstering the full-back positions at Wanderers.
Six games in and the new boss has a two-week international break to take stock of an impressive start to his reign with four wins in six matches.
He is also getting to know his squad more with each passing week but having played promising midfielder Josh Vela on the right side of his defence in the last two matches – the home wins against Cardiff and Wigan – he may already be acknowledging the need for reinforcements.
The full-back positions were also a problem for Lennon's predecessor Dougie Freedman – so much so that centre-back Tim Ream played virtually the whole of the last campaign as a stand-in left-back and did so well his displays earned him both the club and supporters' Player of the Year awards for 2013/14.
The summer signing of Dean Moxey was meant to alleviate the issue on the left with Marc Tierney into a second year on the sidelines recovering from a broken foot.
But after starting Moxey in his first two matches, Lennon has reverted to Ream in that often troublesome position.
The right-hand side, which saw Kevin McNaughton, Alan Hutton and Alex Baptiste before them in the role last season, now seems to be as much of an issue with Vela out of position, albeit performing admirably, in the last two games.
McNaughton picked up a groin strain after starting on that side under Lennon and then could not face parent-club Cardiff.
But he remained in reserve for Wigan's visit to the Macron Stadium.
Youth graduate Oscar Threlkeld filled in for McNaughton at Norwich before being replaced by Vela for the visit of Cardiff.
Threlkeld may still be one for the future in Lennon's eyes, though he had a look at him in a more central role alongside the returning David Wheater in Tuesday's development squad game at Wigan.
Threlkeld may not be in the reckoning for the seniors at present but Lennon is not afraid to give youth its chance as he proved at Norwich.
Lennon said: "Oscar came in and acquitted himself well.
"I am not afraid to put the young ones in and hopefully he will get good experience from that and improve.
"He was thrown in at the deep end at Norwich away so it’s a learning curve for him."
One man who was not available to Lennon in his first six matches was injured loanee Chris Herd who has now gone back to Aston Villa while he struggles with an Achilles problem that wiped out the end of his loan spell.
Lennon is non-committal on whether he may look to Herd again once fit and said: "It (Herd) may be something we look at again but I don’t know."
He could also have the option of returning loanees Hayden White (Bury) and Joe Riley (Oxford) at his disposal on the right of defence when the transfer window opens in January.
It is expected, however, he will be looking to strengthen his ranks if the right players become available in the new year.
The Whites boss added: "We are looking if we can strengthen in certain areas.
"Obviously, if there is a player available that we like then we will try and do something but there are not many out there at the minute."
Source
Six games in and the new boss has a two-week international break to take stock of an impressive start to his reign with four wins in six matches.
He is also getting to know his squad more with each passing week but having played promising midfielder Josh Vela on the right side of his defence in the last two matches – the home wins against Cardiff and Wigan – he may already be acknowledging the need for reinforcements.
The full-back positions were also a problem for Lennon's predecessor Dougie Freedman – so much so that centre-back Tim Ream played virtually the whole of the last campaign as a stand-in left-back and did so well his displays earned him both the club and supporters' Player of the Year awards for 2013/14.
The summer signing of Dean Moxey was meant to alleviate the issue on the left with Marc Tierney into a second year on the sidelines recovering from a broken foot.
But after starting Moxey in his first two matches, Lennon has reverted to Ream in that often troublesome position.
The right-hand side, which saw Kevin McNaughton, Alan Hutton and Alex Baptiste before them in the role last season, now seems to be as much of an issue with Vela out of position, albeit performing admirably, in the last two games.
McNaughton picked up a groin strain after starting on that side under Lennon and then could not face parent-club Cardiff.
But he remained in reserve for Wigan's visit to the Macron Stadium.
Youth graduate Oscar Threlkeld filled in for McNaughton at Norwich before being replaced by Vela for the visit of Cardiff.
Threlkeld may still be one for the future in Lennon's eyes, though he had a look at him in a more central role alongside the returning David Wheater in Tuesday's development squad game at Wigan.
Threlkeld may not be in the reckoning for the seniors at present but Lennon is not afraid to give youth its chance as he proved at Norwich.
Lennon said: "Oscar came in and acquitted himself well.
"I am not afraid to put the young ones in and hopefully he will get good experience from that and improve.
"He was thrown in at the deep end at Norwich away so it’s a learning curve for him."
One man who was not available to Lennon in his first six matches was injured loanee Chris Herd who has now gone back to Aston Villa while he struggles with an Achilles problem that wiped out the end of his loan spell.
Lennon is non-committal on whether he may look to Herd again once fit and said: "It (Herd) may be something we look at again but I don’t know."
He could also have the option of returning loanees Hayden White (Bury) and Joe Riley (Oxford) at his disposal on the right of defence when the transfer window opens in January.
It is expected, however, he will be looking to strengthen his ranks if the right players become available in the new year.
The Whites boss added: "We are looking if we can strengthen in certain areas.
"Obviously, if there is a player available that we like then we will try and do something but there are not many out there at the minute."
Source
