Date: 29th December 2011 at 12:10pm
Written by:
Richie De Laet

United's young defender had his work cut out against Bale

After missing Norwich’s 2-2 draw with Wolves, Ritchie De Laet was back in the side on Tuesday as the Canaries hosted an in-form Tottenham side. De Laet was given the difficult task of marking Welsh winger Gareth Bale and was also instructed to get forward from the right-back position and his delivery caused problems for goalkeeper Brad Friedel. De Laet was also on free-kick duty and created further uncertainty in the Tottenham penalty area. However, Bale did get the better of him as he ghosted away from the entire Norwich defence to tap in the opener after 55 minutes.

Robbie Brady replaced Cameron Stewart for Hull with 20 minutes to go in their tight encounter with Middlesbrough in the hope that he would help the Tigers score a late winner. However, the game went the other way as Barry Robson netted a late winner for Boro with Brady failing to make any real impact on the game.

Scott Wootton started for Peterborough in their 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest. Wootton was comfortable after a lengthy period on the sidelines and played well alongside Steve Zakuani and will look to play an integral role in the Posh’s busy period over the coming weeks. Ryan Tunnicliffe was not involved.

Sam Johnstone had a bad day at the office in Scunthorpe’s 3-1 loss to Bury as he conceded a 20-yarder from Peter Sweeney.
Andy Bishop put the Shakers 2-1 ahead after good work by Mike Jones and Efe Sodje’s header added a third to leave Scunthorpe in the drop zone. Oliver Norwood was still suspended.

Danny Drinkwater missed Barnsley’s clash with Blackpool with a thigh injury and the Tykes would have been hoping the young midfielder was available as they lacked creative ingenuity in their attacking third.

Joshua King was, you’ve guessed it, not involved for Borussia M’gladbach’s 3-1 win over Schalke in the German Cup which put them into the quarter-finals. Although he hasn’t had much game-time, King can put his feet up as the Bundesliga is on a month-long winter break.

Follow Saad on Twitter- Twitter: @saadnoor

 

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