Date: 29th September 2011 at 12:11am
Written by:
Richie De Laet

United's young defender struggling for games at Norwich

Belgian defender Ritchie De Laet didn’t manage to make it off the bench for Norwich as they secured their first home win of the season against Sunderland on Monday night.

The Canaries have now won two out of two without De Laet and head to Old Trafford on Saturday where the youngster is unavailable to play due to the loan agreement between the two clubs. A good thumping by United might help our man in East Anglia as he may force his way back into the side. So, you know what to do lads.

Robbie Brady played the full 90 minutes in the space of three days as his Hull City side drew 1-1 at Doncaster and Bristol City. The Tigers let leads slip on both occasions and put a halt to their three-game winning run but they are still hold the final play-off position at present. Brady’s link-up with partners Waghorn and Koren has been key for Hull so far this term and both were on the scoresheet in the two games but manager Nigel Pearson is sticking with the Irishman as his strength and ability to drop deep has allowed his fellow front men the opportunity to go unnoticed. Brady will want to add more of a scoring threat to his game as he has only managed one goal against Reading in August and with the form of Koren and Waghorn, he’ll need his scoring boots on sharpish.

Ryan Tunnicliffe was also playing two away games in a row against West Ham and Portsmouth. The Academy Player of the Season for 2010/11 started against the Hammers but had a disappointing first half whereby he couldn’t get in the game coming up against the Premier League experience in Mark Noble, Kevin Nolan and Matt Taylor in the middle of the park. The youngster was pulled at half time and Peterborough improved considerably however were unable to find a reply to Noble’s 11th-minute penalty and lost the game 1-0. Tunners made his mark at Fratton Park last night as he came off the bench to see his low shot go in off Pompey’s Erik Huseklepp to give Posh a late win. Tunnicliffe came on when the score was tied at 2-2 but Darren Ferguson’s side pushed and pushed until the last minute and reaped the rewards to climb up to 7th in the table. Scott Wooton, who was an unused sub against West Ham came on with 23 minutes left on the clock at Portsmouth to play in a slightly unfamiliar position in midfield in which he broke up play and combined well with Tunnicliffe as they stole the three points in true Ferguson fashion. It must run in the family.

Danny Drinkwater’s Barnsley were playing back-to-back away games too as he came up against Birmingham and Derby, with both games ending in 1-1 draws. Drinkwater played well at St Andrew’s coming up against Steve Caldwell and Liam Ridgewell whilst playing in an advanced midfield position just behind centre-forward Andy Gray. He linked well with Gray and Jacob Butterfield and it was Butterfield who gave the visitors the lead from 30 yards out after 33 minutes but it took a late goal from Chris Burke to deny struggling Barnsley their second win of the season. Against Derby, Drinkwater was used out wide, using his skills and compusure on the ball to allow full-back Jimmy McNulty to maraud forward and the two gave Derby’s John Brayford a torrid time.

Down in League One, Oliver Norwood and Sam Johnstone were involved in the thick of the action on Saturday as two goals from Damien Mozika earned their Scunthorpe side their first league win of the season at home to Yeovil. Norwood who played out wide in this game hit the bar for the Iron and looked a threat all afternoon with another shot going just past the post. Goalkeeper Sam Johnstone then denied Steve MacLean a late equaliser with a fantastic save to his left with seconds left on the clock.

No change on Joshua King’s horrid spell at Borussia Monchengladbach as the Norweigan hitman was left out of the squad to face Nurenberg. Filip Daem’s penalty was enough to give M’gladbach a home victory over as they dropped to third in the Bundesliga standings.

Follow Saad on Twitter- Twitter: @saadnoor

 

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