Kevin Mirallas (Fiorentina)
Mirallas was tried out as a false nine for the 1-1 draw at Udinese, but was hooked at half-time after having no shots at all and making just five passes, never even entering the opposition’s penalty box.
Sandro Ramirez (Real Sociedad)
Sandro replaced Adnan Januzaj for the final eight minutes of his side’s 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao, but barely had time to do anything at all apart from one accurate cross.
Henry Onyekuru (Galatasaray)
Onyekuru didn’t have the best weekend either, cutting an isolated figure out on the left wing throughout the 1-1 draw at Alanyaspor, making just 11 passes and winning just six of his eighteen duels.
He stayed out on the left for Gala’s 2-0 Turkish Cup win over Hatayspor in midweek, and lasted the 90 minutes again without directly contributing to either goal.
Nikola Vlasic (CSKA Moscow)
CSKA have been busy with friendlies during their winter break, with three games in just five days last week. They did manage to score nine during those three games, a 3-3 draw with Sarpsborg 08, and a couple of 3-0 wins over Odds BK and Sogndal IL respectively. Vlasic bagged the first of them all, just three minutes into the Sarpsborg game last Saturday.
Cuco Martina (Feyenoord)
Cuco was an unused substitute on his first time in the Feyenoord matchday squad, a game which resulted in a 2-1 defeat to Excelsior.
Yannick Bolasie (Anderlecht)
Despite questions over his fitness, Bolasie made his Anderlecht debut in a huge game against Standard Liege last weekend, coming on for Yari Verschaeren on the right wing for the last fifteen minutes with the score at 1-1. He tried to put a shift in, but his side fell to a 2-1 defeat after their rivals scored an 89th minute winner.
Matthew Pennington (Ipswich Town)
Pennington is proving valuable for Ipswich this season, who were glad to hold onto him amidst deadline day interest from Derby County. He moved back to centre-back for the 1-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, and was resolute at the back despite the result. He excelled in the air both defensively and also going forward, proving a threat from set pieces. Something we could do with at the moment…
Luke Garbutt (Oxford United)
Garbutt was left on the bench for Oxford’s 0-0 draw at Burton Albion.
Antonee Robinson and Beni Baningime (Wigan Athletic)
Beni was left on the bench for Wigan’s 2-1 win over Queens Park Rangers, but will hopefully get more of a look in during the coming weeks. The same can be said for Robinson, who is due to come back from a long-term ankle injury soon.
Ashley Williams (Stoke City)
Williams was preferred to Ryan Shawcross to partner captain Danny Batth at centre-back, but had a shaky afternoon which ended in a 2-0 defeat to Hull City. He made six clearances and was booked.
Muhamed Besic (Middlesbrough)
Besic was largely peripheral before being brought off for Jonny Howson after just 54 minutes of the 3-2 win over West Bromwich Albion, and was rested for the 2-0 surprise FA Cup defeat to Newport County.
Joe Williams and Callum Connolly (Bolton Wanderers)
Williams continued his recovery from injury while Connolly was thrown straight in at centre-mid, putting in a good shift on his debut. He put himself about, and was booked for a poor challenge as well as playing five accurate long balls of eight, and winning eight of his thirteen duels. The match finished 2-0 to Kieran Dowell’s Sheffield United.
Kieran Dowell (Sheffield United)
Dowell replaced striker Billy Sharp for the final moments of the game above, and was only on the pitch for eight minutes so didn’t have enough time to make an impact.
Mason Holgate (West Bromwich Albion)
Holgate was always keen to bomb up the right-hand side during the 3-2 defeat to Middlesbrough, and was booked in a rather frantic first half. He provided the cross for Jay Rodriguez to knock down to Dwight Gayle for the second goal, but was caught out of position for Boro’s second.
Shayne Lavery (Falkirk)
The Northern Irishman came on for the final two minutes of Falkirk’s 3-0 win over Queen of the South, and is still yet to make a start for his new side.
Joe Hilton (Marine)
Marine’s home game against Scarborough Athletic was postponed due to a frozen pitch last week, so young goalkeeper Joe Hilton and I got the day off.
Oumar Niasse (Cardiff City)
Oumar put in a typically energetic performance up front for Cardiff, but it was Bobby Reid who stole the show scoring both goals in the 2-0 win over Bournemouth. Niasse did have a shot on target and two blocked showing plenty of effort, but as we learned over the years, not as much composure. He was brought off for Kenneth Zohore with seven minutes remaining.
Anthony Evans (Blackpool)
Blackpool’s fixture at Accrington Stanley last Saturday was also postponed due to the icy conditions, so Evans will have to wait for his debut in orange.
@TomClarke40
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