IT looks like tomorrow will be another away journey where the old “sat nav” will come into play.

Or if you are more of a traditionalist, the impressively-sized AA Road Map of Britain will be man handled by your co-pilot.

I was hoping for a more relaxing time on the coach and let’s hope that it still is, but with the M4 overnight closures being upgraded to a full closure this weekend, I would recommend adding a little more time to your trip.

When we do get to Swindon, we will of course be hoping that the U’s can yet again play out of their skins as they have done for each and every away game so far this season.

I think we all need it after a particularly flat performance last Saturday kind of gifted three points to our frequent footballing nemesis, Crawley Town.

I wonder if it would have made a difference to the end result? In fairness the U’s had spells where they took the attack to the Crawley defence and created chances that on another day would have given us a two or three-goal lead way before we dozed off and allowed their side footed, unmarked strike past Shamal.

There are huge amounts of experience in this U’s squad. Just thinking of the likes of Daniels, Judge, Chambers plus our own Tom Eastman of course.

The management will not want too many voices offering helpful suggestions but I would like to think that these guys could offer up one or two pearls of wisdom to bring about a change of fortune at home.

At times we just looked so flat and a bit pedestrian and that is a concern for me. Also a concern is that only 2,500 U’s fans mustered themselves to the game, as some continue to be unhappy with the current ticketing requirements.

Compare those numbers to our League Two peers and it’s disappointing. Despite the atmosphere that is generated by areas such as the South Stand, I wonder if the players need more bums on seats or something else to get them going at home.

As Brendan Wiredu said during the week, if we are serious about promotion then we have to be winning these home games. He also said that he will keep on putting his body on the line for the cause.

That’s great and commendable but we don’t want him playing on when injured, which is how he looked after twice going down for treatment. Fingers crossed he is also fixed for tomorrow.

Gazette:

There has been quite a lot of chat this week about the U’s current centre-forward position or positions, and in particular whether our current number nine is best suited to playing out wide instead.

Bar a brief hiatus in Plymouth, whilst at the U’s over the recent years, this seems to have been the eternal conundrum for the management and Frank Nouble (pictured above), who clearly is an asset to the team, as he has attributes that no one else in the squad can offer, and he seems to be needed for 90 minutes each game, so where can we get the best out of him?

I think that I have penned a quite similar paragraph once or twice each season in fact.

I wonder if the U’s have to think about a different game plan at home against how they set up away from home?

Food for thought perhaps, and as you play with buttons or paw over your maps on the way to Swindon to support the team, you might like to formulate suggestions, which might include how to get the best out of the talent that is Jasper and Dobra.

If our hosts tomorrow were in a different state let’s say, the U’s could have been facing their old gaffer, John McGreal, which might have been an interesting experience.

Thanks for your support as always and I wish you a safe journey if you are heading to Wiltshire in the morning.

CUSA chairman Jon Burns