Keep the same team as much as possible.
Evans went with two up top, pairing Italian Mirco Antenucci alongside Chris Wood and, according to an interview he gave earlier this week, it was with a strategy in mind. For Evans, it was a case of being able to free up Antenucci and Lewis Cook in what he called ‘attacking spaces’.
4-4-2 worked against Birmingham, worked well in fact, and was helped to work by having two defensive midfielders play as a lock in front of Sol Bamba and Liam Cooper in the centre of the back line. Full backs Gaetano Berardi and Charlie Taylor were dependable as always. The only issue seems to be that club captain Bamba is carrying a knock from the Birmingham victory, twisting his ankle so this might mean one enforced change. Is it too early for Giuseppe Bellusci to step back in, given that he would be under the microscope straight away?
The centre of the field picks itself really, Stuart Dallas a shoe-in after his two-goal heroics of Tuesday, Lewis Cook is another one whose name is guaranteed as should Toumani Diagouraga and Luke Murphy. Complicating things would be the possible return from injury of Liam Bridcutt, Diagouraga likely dropping out.
Will Alex Mowatt’s enforced absence from the team led to opportunities for someone such as Casper Sloth or Jordan Botaka to step up to the bench for the end-of-season run-in?
