Anyone else worried about our defence if we go up?

[NorthBankNeil]

I know everyone's buzzing about the attack and rightly so but can we talk about the defence for a minute? Because if we get promoted we're going to need a serious upgrade at the back.
In the Championship we can get away with the occasional mistake because the quality of finishing isn't always there. In the Premier League one slip and you're punished. Every time. Look at what happened to Luton and Burnley last time. They had decent Championship defences that just couldn't cope at the next level.
Our centre backs are fine for this level but I'm not convinced either of them would survive a full Premier League season. The full back positions are even more concerning. We need pace and we need players who can actually defend one on one against top level wingers.
This has to be the priority in the summer window regardless of whether we go up or not. You build success from the back and right now our foundations aren't solid enough.

 

[AnlabyTiger]

You're spot on and it worries me too. The centre backs have been decent this season but decent in the Championship is a completely different thing to decent in the Premier League. Look at the pace of the forwards in the top flight. Salah, Isak, Watkins. Our lads would get absolutely roasted. If we go up the first three signings need to be a centre back, a left back, and a goalkeeper who can play with the ball at his feet. Non negotiable.

 

[Jaffa82]

Luton and Burnley proved that you can't just upgrade one or two positions and hope for the best. You need a Premier League quality spine which means goalkeeper, centre back, central midfield, and striker all need to be at that level. We've got the midfield and the strikers but the defence needs a complete overhaul. Better to plan for it now than panic buy in August and end up with players who aren't good enough. We've done that before and it didn't end well.