in a season without European football we should simply play our full strength 11 in the cup ties - if we'd done that tonight we'd have romped home too

 

With no European football we certainly should be looking to go as far as we can in both domestic cups.

 

That said, at home to an average League One side we have to be giving a few of the fringe players some game time as if they can't get any minutes in matches like this they won't get minutes at all which won't help if they then do need to be called upon at any point. Really fed up that the likes of Matic and Pedro are still getting too much game time when their previous performances suggest they don't deserve it.

Conceding in every game is a worry, when we come up against a team with genuine fire power we could get embarrassed.

Conceding in every game is a worry, when we come up against a team with genuine fire power we could get embarrassed.

Equally good is scoring more than 1 goal and having the drive to push for more goals/winner.  I love a clean sheet and do think we need to improve our defense but considering our start to last season I'm very happy we are putting W's up at all.

Also just saw Pedro's penalty, think everyone was being a little harsh.  Not sure where our defenders were?  He did very welly to get back and I thought the Rovers player made a meal of it, I think next time that happens he'll make up the ground but have some better awareness in the challenge.  Looks like he offered very little going forward which is a shame

That said, at home to an average League One side we have to be giving a few of the fringe players some game time as if they can't get any minutes in matches like this they won't get minutes at all which won't help if they then do need to be called upon at any point. 

 

Like 5 managers down and not one of them put out a ton of youth team players in a league cup squad. We are like the only club in the country that takes this cup so seriously. Its annoying

Like 5 managers down and not one of them put out a ton of youth team players in a league cup squad. We are like the only club in the country that takes this cup so seriously. Its annoying

A cup is a cup. It used to mean a lot.

Play to win every game I say.

The scoreline didn't reflect how the game went. We created a glut of chances but were wasteful and a bit unlucky, hit the post, had one saved on the line and a debatable offside go against us while they had a soft penalty go their way (the kind we rarely get). Certainly wasn't a performance worthy of mass hysteria because we didn't win 10-0.