It was supposed to be the weekend when the EFL attendance pilots were ramped up however the government promptly stopped that with new Covid-19 restrictions, a severe dent in the hopes that supporters will be back at stadiums before the season's end. Discussions were held amidst genuine concerns over the futures of clubs, who rely on ticket sales as a main source of income. All very sombre, yet on the pitch the action still continued apace... 

1) VAR continues to dominate much of the narrative in the Premier League, not all for positive reasons, but it could have provided a useful asset at Deepdale in review of Tom Barkhuizen’s 22^nd minute red card. What immediately seemed to be a malicious challenge, closer inspection revealed the winger to have slipped when going in for a loose ball with Stoke’s Morgan Fox. Preston manager Alex Neil was reasonable in his assessment of the incident, "I wasn't sure about the red card” he said, “he is running full speed, goes to slow down and loses his footing and slides into the lad”. It turned out to be the game’s pivotal moment as Stoke were able to recover from a sluggish start and make their one-man advantage pay through Lee Gregory, who netted the Potter’s first goal of the season. With their array of attacking options, Michael O’Neil will know Stoke need to show more potency and wouldn’t have shared the neutral’s admiration of Steven Fletcher’s late Rabona-effort that hit the cross-bar to waste another golden chance.

2) Dire Straits’ Money for Nothing was top of the weekly charts on this date back in 1985, the last time Reading won their opening 3 matches of the league season, but that title isn’t applicable to Lucas Joao who is paying back his salary in goals. The Portuguese international’s strike at Cardiff made it 5 in 4 and the way he shrugged off Bluebirds’ defender Curtis Nelson to hammer in Reading’s second of the afternoon conjured a feeling the striker was unstoppable. That was until he had to be withdrawn late on due to a dislocated shoulder and with Felipe Arurana already going off to join Jonathan Swift, out with a hamstring injury, on the treatment table, injuries are mounting at an impromptu time for the Royals. Not that it will discourage manager Veljko Paunovic. “Things like this happen”, said the Serb, also touching on the growing excitement in the dressing room, “and you can't control them, so it is a case of next man up.”

 

3) Two 100 percent records are still in existence in League One, with Hull and Ipswich both yet to drop points and yet to concede. As the Tractor Boys motored past Rochdale, Hull were particularly impressive in a 0-2 win away at Northampton. It is just over 2 months since the Tigers’ slide from the Championship hit the nadir of the 8-0 thrashing at Wigan, but Grant McCann’s team appear to have put that behind them with a summer of strong recruitment. “Good leaders, characters” as McCann called them have been added, with Alfie Jones, Richie Smallwood and Greg Docherty beefing up a midfield that now allows George Honeyman to thrive in attack alongside Hakeeb Adelakun and Malik Wilks, already proving to be shrewd signings from Bristol City and Barnsley respectively. Adelakun and Honeyman linked up to slice through the Cobblers for the second, the former Sunderland winger adding a goal to an earlier assist for youngster Keane Lewis-Potter. With 3 goals already to his name this season, the 19 year old could be the latest talent from a development system that reaped the profits of Jarrod Bowen’s sale to West Ham.

 

4) Only 3 players that featured in Wigan Athletic’s final game of last season were still in the side that travelled to the south coast to play Portsmouth, after a summer of overhaul caused by last season’s dramatic plunge into administration. John Sheridan took over from Paul Cook and immediately faced the unenviable task of replacing 19 departed players. The new dawn has been founded on talents drawn from the youth set-up but at Fratton Park the Latics showed they will still possess a familiar fighting spirit, embodied by 21 year old Chris Merrie who put in a rock solid display from midfield. Lee Evans, one of the players to remain from last term, struck the opener before Tom James, on loan from Hibernian, hit an excellent free-kick to make it two. A late goal from Ellis Harrison, Portsmouth’s first in a stuttering start to the campaign, was a mere consolation and although one can sympathise with Kenny Jackett’s regret that their famously passionate supporters are not on hand to rally his team on, it was probably best they weren’t able to witness this lifeless display.

 

 5) Bolton’s own response to financial difficulty has been to sign last season’s League Two top scorer Eoin Doyle, Plymouth’s player of the year Antoni Sarcevic and a raft of other recruits including Nathan Delfouneso from Blackpool and Alex Baptiste from Doncaster, but with resources being used freely, with the aid of a heavily data-driven scouting system, in order to deliver Ian Evatt’s desired brand of attacking football it is clear that with 3 defeats and no goals, they are yet to gel. Newport County, fresh from knocking Championship Watford out of the League Cup in midweek, were the latest to punish the Trotters as they struggle to adjust to the upheaval. Midfielder Scott Twine and full back Ryan Haynes were given the freedom to run the show and, reacting to rebounds off the goalkeeper, Tristan Abraham displayed his predatory instinct for both goals. Perhaps Bolton, who announced two more new signings Lloyd Isgrove and Arthur Gnuahoua 10 minutes before kick off and immediately introduced them to the bench, could slow down the head-spinning rate of arrivals and leave Evatt with time to familiarise his squad.