First live game of the season for me on Saturday, so all the usual caveats about that but it appeared to me that there might be a few problems that we could solve by sacrificing a striker and playing an extra body in midfield. It doesn't mean being negative, just changing the way we build it up.
For one thing, it seems that opposition managers have cottoned on to man-marking Edwards in the same way as the smart managers in League 1 realised that you had to man-mark David Fox to stop the ball getting to Carey and Lameiras. The Oldham strikers when they closed down our defenders seemed to be deliberately angling themselves between the defenders and Edwards. So very often there was then a long pass forward that went astray. So if we are going to play this way then we need more short passing options out of defence.
Then there's obviously the Riley problem. If we have more cover in midfield we can play Byron Moore or Joel Grant when he's fit, and let them bomb on a bit. The attack then comes much more down the sides with the midfield acting as security.
So something like, when all fit: Palmer; Aimson, Canavan, Josh Grant; Joel Grant / Byron Moore, Sarcevic, Edwards, Baxter / Cooper, McFadzean; Mayor; striker. Striker is any one of Telford, Byron Moore if he's not RWB, Taylor, Rudden, or Lolos. Mayor can play directly off the striker, run past him etc etc.
The other solution could be to use the same personnel as Saturday but to ask Baxter or George Cooper to drop back a bit alongside Edwards to provide more passing options, bring Mayor more central and play more of a 3-4-1-2, rather than 3-1-4-2.