Since I submitted my last article, our form has been, as one expected from the team at the beginning of the season, mixed. Our recent optimism was a false dawn. The imminent departure of our captain and best player is another cause to prevent the 'P' word becoming a prominent part of the Trent-side vocabulary. And so, I am led to consider the issues that will no doubt be on the mind of every supporter and of the saviour of attractive proffesional football, Paul Hart.

This is the issue of replacing the Bartman, as captain and midfield player. One asks who will take that fourth place in midfield, alongside Prutton, Jenas and Williams? Will it be a left sided player to give balance to the team? Will it be an old head? Will JJ be moved left, with a central midfielder brought in. Let us list the options in detail.

Perhaps the most obvious option is the re-introduction of the Tank, to maraude down the left and score directly from bad crosses, as is his want. A perfect compliment perhaps to the similar determined, purposeful running of Prutton on the right. Yet, on the other hand, will he, as we saw in the previous two campaigns, stiffle the born-again-only-this-time-able-to-play Jim Brennan, my man of the moment?

Rogers is too much of a winger, an out of position full back, this writer believes, to compliment the attacking abilities of Brennan. That aside, he is also unfit.

More exciting for some would be putting Reid on the left. He tried it last season, with limited success, but it is clear that he has the heart and skill to play a role in the Forest side. With his lack of height, questions must be asked of his credentials as a striker, so maybe the move that Platt had planned for him to left midfield will now continue under Hart. One doubts, though, the likeliness that the man who raised him as a striker will do that, especially considering the fact that the new midfield would have an average age of just 19.

How could Harty counter-act the problem of age? The oldest remaining midfielder in the squad is Gary Jones, and quite how he can force his way back into Harty's reckoning is beyond my imagination. After him is Andy Gray, soon to turn 24. Here is my expected solution to our midfield dilema.

Gray was signed shortly after Hart arrived at the Academy, and was, so it is believed, signed on Hart's recommendation. He is of the same ilk as the first batch of Hart's footballing offspring to make their mark, the likes of Kewell, Smith and Woodgate notably. He has failed to live up to that pedigree in his two years here, but has featured prominently as a sub this season. Perhaps tellingly, he replaced Bart-Williams in the last game. Should Gray be selected in midfield, it would most probably be in the centre, although the possibility of moving Prutton inside exists. His movement may contribute William's holding role, and his experience on the flank makes for fluid positional interchanges with Jenas and Prutton, allowing them both to attempt to fill the creative gap that Bart-Williams will leave.

This brings me on to the ascendancy to throne of club captain. Jon Olav Hjelde stood in after the Birmingham move for Bart collapsed, and has been a colossus figure this season at the back. However, I feel that David Prutton's time may be nigh. In Prutton, we have the most industrious, and consistent midfielder at the club since Steve Stone, except, Prutton will probably go on to greater things at international level, by virtue of his extra pace and ability to play as a right midfielder, as opposed to the wing style play of Stone. He is known to have been a fantastic leader at U19 level, and whilst 20 may sound too young to be captain, he is almost a veteran in our side. With Gray allowing him the freedom to come inside and play an even more influential role than he does now, the true measure of Prutton's precocious talent should soon become obvious, and by this time next season, maybe with a new hero at the City Ground, we will have the leader on the pitch to take this team to within the realistic area of uttering the 'P' word in all its fullness.

For now, we shall have to settle for promise, potential and a guarantee of a trip to Derby next season.