WANDERERS have, for far too long, failed to produce a plan B.

It was a criticism continually aimed at Owen Coyle and Dougie Freedman, both of whom died by the sword of their differing footballing principles.

Neil Lennon fared little better. He was more tactically diverse early in his time with Wanderers but an utter lack of options left him unable to alter his approach much towards the end.

Phil Parkinson’s squad is not exactly deep – but he showed against Wimbledon on Saturday that he does have the tools to alter his game plan when necessary.

Wanderers had to match up physically, so the Whites boss called on Gary Madine and Jamie Proctor to lead his line and Liam Trotter to provide the midfield muscle missing after Darren Pratley’s unfortunate injury.

To hail it as a resounding success would be wrong. It took time for the plan to bear fruit. But you simply cannot estimate how psychologically important it was for the club to end that away jinx.

It was a different approach than had been applied previously against Sheffield United and both were achieved without the guile and trickery of Max Clayton and Zach Clough, whose return to full fitness can only be good news.

At Bradford, Parkinson earned a reputation for studying his opponents and matching them up. Locals insist if there was a criticism of his time at Valley Parade it was that he could sometimes be guilty of over-thinking his team’s tactics.

Too much seems to have been thrown together with little planning in the last few years at Wanderers, so Parkinson’s more studious style comes as a breath of fresh air.

The manager still needs some help. The squad still lacks pace and I would love to see another right-sided player to balance out Chris Taylor’s intelligent play on the left.

If Parkinson can strengthen his squad further in the next couple of weeks, giving himself even more tactical flexibility, I think we can all start getting excited.