THE options for a central defensive partnership make for a selection headache, but I don't think Steve Cotterill could go wrong with any of the combinations at his disposal.

Steven Caldwell, Clarke Carlisle, David Unsworth and Michael Duff can all play there, plus left-back Stephen Jordan was tried out in that position in pre-season, to good effect.

In the absence of anyone else at right back following last week's departure of Stephen Foster to Barnsley, Duff will be posted there.

Should a full-back be signed before the transfer window closes at midnight on Friday then that is likely to be re-assessed, but that takes him out of the equation for now.

Jordan, too, is probably best placed at left-back. So if I had to choose, I would go with a Caldwell-Carlisle partnership in the centre.

Carlisle has got the pace that is needed at this level of football. Caldwell and Unsworth are both quite solid, but with Unsworth still short of full match fitness just now, I would give the captain the nod.

Injuries may make decisions easier to come by, but also there is the option to pick an alternative backline according to specific fixtures.

And that is where the reserves will also play a role this season - not just for defenders, but for the rest of the squad striving to force themselves into the manager's first team plans.

When I was at Hull City, you had to get 20-odd goals in the reserves before even trying to get into the first team.

If you are scoring in the reserves, certainly if you are getting hat-tricks, that's a way of banging on the door to the first team.