DE.

Rankin-Costello on for Rothwell.

Gallagher off, Samuel on.

We've looked much better this half, just haven't been able to break them down.

Messing about at the back now and causing ourselves all kinds of problems. Keep it simple lads, for goodness sake.

A long diagonal ball to SG on right wing straight from kick off. Sigh.

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Boro losing and Wigan winning means the former are only out of the relegation places on GD now. Barnsley also winning.

We're playing a fluid 4-4-2/4-2-3-1 formation at the moment. Out of posession it's 4-2-3-1, which is a problem when we attempt to counter as we have nobody in a decent position up top and Gallagher is out wide. Gallagher moves into the centre when we get possession in their half which becomes 4-4-2, but the problem is when we lose possession there is a gap on the right which Stoke have exploited more than once to break away. It isn't working.

That was shit. The only positive I can take from that half is that we aren't losing.

Because he keeps going out wide, especially when we don't have the ball. His default position out of possession is right wing, but when we're in possession he moves between the centre and the channels.

Cross goes in, Gallagher is actually in the box but manages to trip over his own feet. ffs.

Watching SG toil pitifully out wide is soul crushing.

We look incredibly disjointed and empty going forward. There's a total lack of presence when we're moving towards their goal. A ton of players out wide or in the centre but nobody in the opponent's box. Going to be hard to score playing like that unless Arma scores another worlie or we score from a corner/free kick.

Is it me or is Gallagher on the right fucking wing again? Useless as usual too.

Feels like the Wigan game all over again. We need to wake up.

Managed one ?

Bell, Tosin and Walton all almost contributing to a monumental fuck up there. Bell the worst culprit playing Tosin into a difficult situation.

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I had forgotten about Mulgrew, and apparently Mowbray has as well. If he can't get a look in with our options so thin on the ground then I think he's done here. I doubt we'll ever see him in a Rovers shirt again. It doesn't bother me as far as on-field is concerned as I think Mulgrew brings more negatives than positives at this stage of his career, but what an incredible waste of a big wage.

It wouldn't be so bad if Nyambe and Lenihan weren't both so injury prone, but we're playing with fire going down this route imo. Do we really need Samuel, Brereton and Graham all on the bench? It's already been shown before that just throwing six attackers on the pitch doesn't equal goals, so I don't really see the lack of balance as a positive. It worries me.

You're not wrong, but even one defender on loan in the Jan window would have been enough. Out of curiosity why did we recall Magloire if he doesn't even get on the bench when we have no central defenders available for cover? Is he injured or what?

Disappointed to see Gallagher back in the starting line up as I don't really think he's earned the right over Samuel. Not that either are right wingers but Dom deserves to start ahead of Gallagher right now. Nonetheless Gallagher was £5m on a hefty wage and Dom cost £400k and is probably on pittance comparatively so the pressure is no doubt there to start Gallagher one way or another. Let's hope SG repays TM's faith with a goal or two tonight. Pleased to see Rothwell right back into the team. He'd just got going when he got injured before so hopefully has some motivation to keep that fire burning. This is a good match for him to get his teeth into as Stoke concede often and are shown to crumble defensively when put under pressure. The lack of defenders on the bench is a huge concern but that's a consequence of our barren January window. Mowbray will have to hope luck is on his side. I suppose if Lenihan or Tosin get injured Nyambe can move to CB and that would probably mean Bennett coming on at RB. Not ideal but it is what it is.

I think Forest are similar to us in that they've had some very good players there over the years, but never found the right manager to get them playing well enough as a unit. Seems like they might have finally found their guy now though.

These lads got smashed 4-2 by QPR on 15th Feb, beaten 2-0 by Preston on 12th Feb and also got hammered 4-0 by Derby on 31st Jan. Nothing to fear if we're positive and go for it from the off.

According to the Beeb Bristol City have lost 9 out of their last 15 Championship matches. Ouch.