Claim: Tom Lilley displaced player-manager Dave Wilson from the team for the next match in Coventry City which ended as a win.
Evidence: His hopes of regular football were raised when he displaced player-manager Dave Wilson from the team for the next match, a visit to Coventry City. The match ended as a 4–4 draw, and Lilley did not make another appearance until the new year, when he stood in for the injured Clem Rigg and, according to the Lancashire Daily Post, showed himself to be a "full back of great steadiness and resource".