Cheltenham Town midfielder Elliot Bonds is regarded as one of the key players in Wade Elliott’s side. The 23-year-old Guyana international has come on leaps and bounds since he first joined the Robins on a season long-loan from Hull City in August 2020, before returning to the club permanently in the summer of 2021.
A loan spell at Kidderminster Harriers developed him further, before coming back into Michael Duff’s plans and becoming a regular fixture for the side. At times, he has been amongst the Robins fans in debate in terms of whether he is a good player or not. Nowadays, he is a key cog in Wade’s machine, but with the news from Gloucestershire Echo’s Jon Palmer that he is set to be sidelined with a knee injury which he suffered in the opening day defeat at Shrewsbury, Cheltenham now have a massive problem – how do you replace a player of his quality?
How important is he?
Bonds has become one of the first names on the Robins’ teamsheet. His ability to pick out a pass for the likes of Alfie May and Aidan Keena has been seen last season, and was also seen in pre-season – it was his-ball that split the West Brom defence which allowed Keena to score in the Robins’ 1-0 pre-season victory. He is also very good at his role as a defensive midfielder, getting stuck into challenges to break down opposition attacks – last season, he won 69% of his tackles in the 37 games that he played, whilst also making 32 interceptions. When he goes on international duty with Guyana, Cheltenham struggle in midfield.
It was evident in the 1-0 defeat against Shrewsbury on opening day. As soon as Bonds was substituted off with the knee injury, the Robins had a lack of a defensive midfielder on the pitch, and they had no one with Bonds’ ability to break up the play and push Cheltenham up the pitch. His absence may also force Cheltenham back into the market to look for either a loan or another permanent addition to bolster the midfield.
Who can step up and replace him?
The signing of former Wycombe Wanderers midfielder Curtis Thompson was seen as a coup for Wade Elliott as he was a experienced midfielder who was loved by Wycombe fans and was one of their key players when the Chairboys were playing Championship football. Unfortunately, the 29-year-old only played six times last season sue to injury and he also fell out of favour when Josh Scowen returned to the club.
It is a big ask for Thompson who has not played much football for the past season to step up and replace Bonds, but the advantage of Thompson coming in is the experience that he brings to Cheltenham’s midfield could be vitally important for the likes of James Olayinka and Dan Adshead, but it could also allow Liam Sercombe to push further forward.
The most likely avenue that Cheltenham will take is to bring somebody in.
Writer’s View
A 1-0 opening day defeat, Bonds injured for a significant period, a 2-0 defeat to Birmingham last night in the Carabao Cup and George Lloyd having to have surgery on his injured ankle – it has not been the best start for Wade Elliott and Cheltenham. Bonds’ absence will be felt for sure – he offers so much to the Cheltenham midfield and I do fear that even without injuries, our squad still lacks quality. With the need of an additional centre-back to come in, with Bonds and Lloyd now injured, from my personal point of view, we still need one centre-back, a backup right wing-back, a defensive midfielder, another central midfielder, an attacking midfielder and now two forwards. If we do not strengthen, it could be a long season.
