If there’s one thing I hate more about modern sports writing, it’s the overuse of the word “brave”.

“Brave Spurs comeback falls short”…nope.

“Brave defending bags Burnley a point”…stop it.

“Brave substitution wins it for Argyle”…seriously, I will set fire to your dictaphone, I kid thee nay.

Brave is a firefighter jumping into a burning building to a life. Brave is when the tiniest kid in class stands up to the school bully, risking a pummelling.

Hell, brave is even when you decide not to go for a pre-journey toilet stop despite the fact you are about to travel for an hour on the Northern Line, oh my god why didn’t I go for a piss before this, my bladder is going to explode, we’re not even at Bank and I’m definitely going to die, why am I going to die on the Northern Line, oh my god.

Okay, the last one is more stupid than anything, but you get my point.

So, yeah, I hate the word “brave”. Imagine my dismay, then, before writing this, to find myself thinking “AFC Wimbledon need to be a bit more…brave”.

After a long, hard look in the mirror, it does make sense.

There are various well-trodden arguments for why we’ve struggled this season: we’ve been unlucky; we’re being undone by individual errors; Ryan Clarke and Sean Kelly are bad luck charms sent by Beelzebub to curse us forever, etc, etc.

My thinking is we need to a bit more - *shudders* - brave… Look at our recent team selection and the return of George Francomb.

Now, I don’t subscribe to the theory that George is Literally The Worst Player Ever™ and should be blamed for everything, but he is no doubt a conservative choice in midfield.

He’s more a defensive winger, and while we do need to be solid at the back, Neal shouldn’t sacrifice attacking impotency for an extra bit of defensive solidity.

Ardley said before the start of the season we’d give this division a real go, and he needs to reflect that in the teams he puts out.

We’re lacking pace, conviction, a bit of - *shudders again* - bravery going forward.

We need that livewire who’s going to take on a few players and not worry about losing the ball.

A David Fitzpatrick, a Toyosi Olusanya. A, dare I say it, Kevin Saint-Luce type player.

We may even need a change in formation. Some of our strongest players are up front and in the centre of midfield, so switching to 4-3-3 could work.

Nothing says “ballsy” more than three of our hulking striking quartet barrelling forward, with Reeves, Bully and Parrett not far behind.

Either way, at the moment we need that spark, that courage of conviction. If we don’t find it soon, we could be in real trouble.

Fortune favours the brave, Neal. Let’s have a go, yeah?

#BringBackKevinStLuce