Harry_SFC

Yep he will be out of the game on Wednesday. You'd imagine Bree or Holgate (yelp!) Will come in at RB and KWP will switch to LB.

Also another relatively decent showing from the defence. Apart from Manning (who is god awful). KWP is pure quality at this level and Bazunu was relatively solid. I think Downes had one of his best games for us off the ball especially. Smallbone still worries me though, despite scoring a couple. Alcaraz is one of those players who is either very good or abysmal and sadly he fell into the latter category today.

We were excellent in the last 15 minutes. Quick incisive passing. Edozie and Charles certainly improved us. Still concerned about the overall display. I'd like to see us properly dominate a match that isn't against Rotherham or Sheffield Wednesday.

Genuinely don't think Pellegrino would be doing any worse than Martin if I'm honest.

This is our default performance these days. It's just so sloppy and lacklustre. Tactical masterclass my arse.

It's certainly an odd situation. Sunderland were planning on playing him in a behind closed doors friendly in September. Is it just a case of our medical team have different opinions on it or has he had a bit of a setback? Either way Martin said we would see him back around now and that clearly isn't the case.

Looks to me that he's bulked up too much

I can remember when Martin said Mara deserved a start up at Sunderland after looking great in training. Granted he played him out wide but he was crap. I know it's tough when you're always coming off the bench but he isn't even making an impact at all. Shame about the injury to THB because we were finally getting a settled defence together. It's that centre forward position that is our biggest problem at the moment.

Has Mara scored goals in the prem? Didn't he get 1 goal? Sorry but no matter what you say, I think he is shite. Adams has given up because the transfer window has closed. He just isn't getting involved in games. Armstrong has never really played well as a central striker and tends to score more goals playing wide in a front 3. It's not good just having "numbers" upfront. They've actually gotta be decent.

Does anyone else find it infuriating when our midfielders just pass the ball backwards for the sake of it? I've lost count of how many times our players (Smallbone is the worst) don't turn with the ball and play it forwards when it's clearly on. You can still play a possession game without just recycling it sideways and backwards all the time. It is totally risk averse football. The lack of ambition is an obvious problem with these tactics.

Serious Achilles injury...no guarantee he comes back the same player unfortunately. This is why I think it's crazy that we only bought Stewart and not another forward. Surely we sell Che and get another in January? In fact I'd get another even if Che stays as he'll be going in the summer anyway.

Alcaraz has posted on his Instagram story so that normally means he's starting. I think S.Armstrong and Sulemena may be rested.

Let's be honest, a midfield of Winks, Dewsbury-Hall and Ndidi is ridiculously good for this division.

Would be very surprised if there isn't a release clause.

I think everyone else is playing for second/play offs this season. Leicester are clearly a class above.

I think we can afford to play a centre forward in this one. I'd be surprised if Adams doesn't start up top.

Can't say I ever thought Stoke were going to score to be honest.

Positives - Bazunu, the whole back line apart from Manning, Downes and Alcaraz. Negatives - Manning, Smallbone both poor again, Mara useless when he came on. Don't think Martins subs helped things. Gritty performance. Really liking the look of Bednarek and THB as a partnership.

It's a bit tricky to compare them because they are different players. Armstrong is better at finishing but isn't as physical or as good at linking the play. Armstrong upfront on his own constantly failed because his all round game wasn't good enough. Likewise Che struggled because he couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo. Would you want either player to be your striker if we made it back to the prem? I certainly wouldn't.

I agree that he's a confidence player but to say that we didn't give him a run in the premier league isn't true. He played 53 matches over two seasons and looked very average. Granted the team wasn't performing which wouldn't have helped. There is more time and space in this league and it's clear the defending isn't as good.

This is his level. Also looks better when playing more as an inside forward rather than an out and out striker.

Anyone else think that Fraser is a bit useless? Apart from his cameo against QPR he has offered nothing. Edozie looks much better to me and would rather see SAA given more opportunities.

I've been very critical of the manager etc the last few weeks, but how was that win lucky?

It's much better to lose a game 6-0 but out pass the opposition. That is the stat that people will remember, not how many goals we score.

Well, there we have it confirmed. Martin does not care about the outcome of the game. Absolutely brilliant that.