are you joking? Trust me im not in the camp that astbury has years left, but if you think he wouldnt have made a difference then i suggest you watch the game again.
We were one defender short and Balta had one of the worst games ive seen him play.
Balta would have filled the hole instead being beaten constantly second to the ball and his opponent.
Agree re Balta, he had a shocker. If he hadn't of then the outcome is most likely different
Vlastuin beat Darling, Broad beat Rywn. Grimes beat Allen.
So clearly the weak link here was Balta on Kennedy. Your assumption is Astbury plays then Kennedy doesn't kick his 4 goals. My counter argument is based on how Astbury has been going pre injury and sides playing through him and exposing his lack of pace then IMO he wouldn't have made a difference. The other thing is Astbury has been caught out holding his opponent alot this year. He grabs to fool his opponents ability to lead and he is getting caught doing it more and more in his twilight years