saintant

No card for that!

Stephens gives it away yet again and costs Downes a booking,

Good try from Mara

Fellows against Manning is a big worry.

Better

Need to get tighter to them and getsome meaty challenges in.

Shocking start from us.

Clearly RM is being influenced by Mara's 82 minutes when we beat them 2-0. Could be a mistake but we'll soon find out.

Hope we play at a decent tempo and keep the walking football to a minimum. I know its hot but you have to play on the front foot from the start.

If Mara doesn't cut it I hope RM will be brave enough to sub him for Stewart early in the game. We can't afford any passengers in this match.

Mara played 82 minutes in the 2-0 win at West Brom so he was always going to be the replacement for Adams.

Norwich v Leeds very cagey so far and pretty boring. Typical play-off first leg game.

Mara up front then.

Won't be a disaster.

Got a feeling today will be far from easy. Win or draw would be great - worst case scenario lose by one goal.

I think the aim with Adams is not to show our hand to West Brom.

If Adams is unfit it will be Mara upfront. His biggest involvement this season was 82 minutes away to West Brom when we beat them 2-0.

I don't want him to start or to come off the bench to be honest. Why would you even consider starting him then state you're sure I don't want to be in a position of needing a goal and having only him to bring on? You're alluding you wouldn't want to bring him on when needing a goal but are fine with him starting.

Well, he wasn't in the training photos and we know RM is keen on underplaying injuries to keep the opposition guessing - not a bad thing to be fair.

The thought of Mara leading the line in a crucial game like this fills me with utter dread.

The guy is finally fit and chomping at the bit. If Adams isn't fit start Stewart. He may score two goals in the opening 15 minutes or he may struggle. Either way he's a better option down the middle than Mara of AA and we know how little we'll get from those two especially the former.

If Adams isn't fit I'd start with Stewart and see how he does. There are plenty of subs these days if it doesn't work. The last thing I want to see if Adams is out is Mara or AA down the middle.

The result of this game is immaterial.

Well at a guess I would imagine WGS was slightly concerned about the firepower of Arsenal's team which included Bergkamp, Henry, Pires and Ljundberg. They would have torn us to shreds in an open game.

And if we play a strong side and get hammered and pick up injuries is it a risk worth taking? Don't get me wrong I get what you're saying about not wanting to lose 4 in a row. I guess you have to decide which is the more damaging scenario. For me it's another possible hammering of the first team and injuries to key players so I'd play a weakened side for this one.