For sure you don't want to be overoptimistic when talking about players who are untested but right now there are about a dozen young strikers with potential on the horizon for us so there is genuine reason to hope that a few of them will make the grade. But as you said earlier, our main issue is timing, with three strikers going to be in their mid-30s at the start of the next campaign which is why having McGoldrick ready to cover a potential transitional period is important. I think we can identify two potential waves of young strikers: over the next season we should hopefully get to see more of the likes of Maguire, McDonagh, Grego-Cox, Duffus and Quigley in first-team action, and possibly Sam Byrne (he's still at a Premier League club so don't write him off just yet - 18 months ago Sean Maguire could have been included in your list of unfulfilled hopes). And given the immediate impact of Daryl Horgan at Preston, there's a reasonable chance that Maguire could be a viable option when the Euro 2020 qualifiers kick off. The second wave would be made up of Hale, Connolly, McAuley, Afolabi, Obafemi and Idah. Hale, Connolly and Afolabi all have been promoted to their respective U-23 squads this season (Hale just got another goal for Birmingham's U-23s) and should be playing at that level for next season and McAuley will surely get a taste of that level next season. I don't expect any of them to be options for the Euro 2020 qualifiers but give them another couple of seasons and we could have a really good strike force by the time our next World Cup kicks off.Quote:
Originally Posted by Olé Olé
