Preston North End fixture offers big opportunity for Scott Parker – here’s why

One way or another, Scott Parker is going to be forced to make changes to his starting eleven against Preston North End when the International break concludes in a little under two weeks’ time.

By the time the Irons get on the team bus, Parker will have had two weeks’ intensive training with his players and will be in a far better position to judge where to switch players and how to switch tactics to start to get a tune out of his Hammers squad.

One player will be sitting out the tie with an enforced suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card this season. It actually gives Parker a big opportunity to try out an alternative pairing at the heart of his defence, without knocking the confidence of his gentle giant Maximilian Kilman who will miss the game.

Whether Parker picks Brazilian centre back by trade Morato or teen Hammer Airidas Golambeckis, the Irons’ manager cannot go wrong. If his pairing produces a shut-out then he’d be justified in retaining his inspired ‘pick’ and leaving Kilman on the bench.

If whoever partners Mavropanos doesn’t cover themselves in glory then he can return to Kilman for the following fixture against Portsmouth just three days later.

Either way, it gives fans like me a respite from the endless starting of a tried, tested, and found wanting duo appearing yet again on the team sheet.

There is , too, the hope that an alternative for Kilman might be lurking within the squad, ready and waiting for just such an opportunity. It seems that Ezra Mayers found his way into Parker’s thinking through being in the ‘right place at the right time’: Perhaps Morato or Golambeckis can make the jersey their own? We can but hope.