THERE were quite a few discussion points for City fans to mull over following Friday night's encouraging goalless draw at St George's Lane with Nat-ionwide North leaders Alfreton Town.

Aaron Kerr's horrendous in-jury, the impressive performances of Shabir Khan and Lewis Skyers, and City closing the book on a four-match losing streak, were predictable subjects in the post-match natter.

However, another topic given plen-ty of talk-time proved more thought provoking than most. And it involved numbers. Plenty of them.

Four-four-two, 5-3-2, or 3-5-2 -- just which one of these is City's best formation?

Like the bulk of managers up and down the country, John Barton is a staunch practitioner of the tried and trusted 4-4-2 method, the most common formation in football today.

Yet against Alfreton, the City manager ditched his usual system and switched to the less familiar 3-5-2, starting with Shabir Khan in central defence alongside Colin Hoyle and captain Carl Heeley, with Les Hines and Rob Warner operating the flanks as wing-backs.

And, for the most part, it worked a treat, especially in defence where City have been extremely vulnerable of late with no clean sheet to their name since, ironically, their only other Friday fixture against Stafford Rangers.

Alfreton had racked up 11 goals from six opening league games on the road, scoring at least once every time, and a few City supporters feared the worst prior to kick-off.

But City's back three, or back five when Warner and Hines closed in, held firm and snuffed out almost every dangerous move by the in-form Derbyshire outfit.

The visiting side's best two chances developed not from their own build-up play but as a result of individual errors, firstly when Khan's back-pass almost let in Godber before half-time, and then on 74 minutes when Hoyle slipped in his own box and headed to Godber who struck the bar.

Asked whether the change in formation was forced through injuries or to counter the opposition, Barton said: "It was a little bit of both. We looked at the options that we had down those flanks and we wanted to get tight with those.

"We have also been missing a presence in the centre of midfield in the last couple of games. It needed a change in many respects and we were asking people to do jobs that were strange to them."

It is difficult to claim 3-5-2 is the best formation unless Barton perseveres with the strategy.

Clearly, City have two good wingmen in Warner and Hines to carry out the hard-working job of running the full length of the pitch, supporting both defence and attack, while the inclusion of Khan gives the ageing rearguard a desperately needed injection of pace.

The system will now need to prove that it can adequately support the front two strikers.

Although Nick Colley, Liam McDonald and Pat Lyons performed stoutly in uncomfortable roles against Alfreton, their effectiveness protecting Heeley and co in defence far outweighed productivity in the opposition's half.

Current injury victims Jai Stanley and Paul Carty are more likely to benefit in the middle of a 3-5-2. Carty is capable in the holding role, while Stanley's strength in short passing is required in a congested centre of midfield.