Poor showing. No tempo on the ball today. A bit of a fluke their first goal and JRC should've brought us level but in the end they deserved all three points. Morton is a liability. Immensely frustrating that O'brien isn't playing for us now. Tough run-in for us, but at least it's all in our own hands. If we can't protect our place in the top six from here on in, then we don't deserve to be there.

They play right on the edge and get away with it. Basham should have been off earlier this month against us.

I'm hoping the EFL will further complicate things for them and deduct a few points. If not 'I will love it if we beat them!'.

Could be a blessing in disguise. I really dislike Sheff Utd and it hurt like hell today, but it will soften the blow if they get thrashed by City in the next round. Dreaming of facing them again in the playoff final.

Have to give JDT some credit for taking out of form players out of the side, and once given the chance again they cling on for dear life. Quality man-management. Some exceptional performances tonight, and a fully deserved win. I was so pissed off when Reading scored, but luckily we came back and clinched a vital win before our league break. Bring on the Blades, I hope we beat them three more times this season, I really do. Awful side.

GET IN! Stoke conceding from crosses x

Hyam? He jumped but their RB was left totally unmarked by Pickering/Dolan.

A lot of gametime for our starting eleven lately. Haven't rotated much. Still should do better, but think we could need a break. Sam clean through early doors and it's a different game though..

Brittain should have played on the left here. Dolan subbed at half time for not tracking back on two separate occations.

Weary bunch in need of an international break. Stoke fully deserved 3-0 up here. Onto the next one.

What a performance! And with three of our main men out in Kaminski, BBD and Dack. QPR away and tonight has been possibly the two best performances under JDT. Fantastic! Could have been a lot more tonight. Who would have thought Pears, JRC and Carter would put in performances like this before the season? Not me.

Rankin’ Joe Costello

JRC has had a lot of injuries but his confidence is sky high and seems a lot fitter than previous as well. JDT seems to excellent at man management. He demands hard work in training and dicipline, and seems to be cut from the same cloth as Ten Hag in that sense. On our day we're a good watch and a match for most of the teams in this league. Excited for the run-in now.

I hereby withdraw any prior negative comments towards Joe Rankin-Costello. Some player this season. Wow. Great team effort, deserved win on the road, and their goal was a bit of a fluke although Carter should have cleared the initial cross.

I rate Carter over Ayala at the moment. Younger, more athletic and a much better passer of the ball. A solid team performance, could only ask that we threaten their goal a little more often, despite a few of our regular starters being out for this one. Brittain back in the team gives us a different dimension, I think he should keep Pickering out of the side. Travis has been good since coming back into the side, tonight was possibly his best game of the season. We still need a striker...

Not a fan. Like his workrate and energy and sometimes that's enough in this league, but whenevere I see him, Sam G. and Hedges in the team at the same time, I remind myself not to complain if results don't go our way.

Diaz has played every minute this season it seems. Might be time to rest a couple of games and come back fresher. Just needs a goal to get going again.

Need a striker willing to make the runs into the box. Gallagher looked rusty as hell, created more for Wigan than he did for us. Morton and Smods passing sideways. Travis better than he has been for a long time. JRC looks really good, I was wrong about him. Carter has more intensity carrying the ball forward than Ayala, played well. But we should see Wigan off with ease.

Blocked his pathway, according to GB. Clear pen.

Clear foul that.

Haha...

'No impact' subs. Really need a goalscoring striker. Vale doesn't get into those positions. Sorba man of the match.

He is being held accountable, and GB did say they followed the same procedures as they have been doing for the last ten years. Meaning nothing has changed but has to change now - and he'll make sure of that. We've been painfully slow to do transfers for a long time. Is that because of our inept administration or because of Venky's demands?

Support mechanisms is supporting O'Brien by appealing, surely? The part about Brierly makes sense.

Didn’t catch that. Think the Rochdale deal is going through either way, while O’Brien obviously isn’t. He said Rochdale needs the money to stay afloat, maybe that’s what you mean?