African Nations cup final

I believe Danns's supension is only for one match, so he should be available again (unless the Cardiff match gets snowed off).

As for Bamba, I'll be delighted to have him back; quite where he'll fit in is another matter and Pearson may well "rest" him for a game or two in the name of "recovery" while he works out what he's going to do. Personally I believe he's our best defender and would want to play him, at least in central midfield if that was considered the best plan. Still, it's always good to have this kind of selection headache rather than: "They're all rubbish but I have to pick one of them".

"Personally I believe he's our best defender and would want to play him at least in central midfield.."

So, for example, let's say Mills and St Ledger both had brilliant games against Cardiff and Watford, would you advocate dropping one of the central midfielders to accommodate him or have I got the wrong end of the stick?

While I admit it does read that way, obviously if the team is winning then there's no reason to change things.

However, it's difficult to advocate leaving one of your best players out if results stay as they are at present.

How many times this season has keeping a winning team for the next match proved a waste of time, lets face it, we haven'y managed back to back league wins all season, IMO you have to play your best team rather than play the same team just because they won the previous game, particularly if players become available as in this case.

I actually think Bamba playing a Scott Parker role in front of two CBs could suit him - more freedom to express himself and push forward to the halfway line, and the protection of two defenders behind him.

I just wish we had tried this sort of Diamond/5-3-2, earlier in the season when we had an abundance of central midfielder's and lack of wingers.

At the minute, I don't think I would consider breaking up our CB pairing as I think they have looked good, despite the midfield in front of them underperforming (have we undervalued King's contribution?).

We are surely going to have a crack at a flat 4-4-2 on Saturday with Danns out, and if this shows promise and the defence stay solid, it would be difficult to play Bamba anywhere.

For me, the problem is that you have to sacrifice your wingers if you are to bring Sol into a more advanced role and over the last few weeks, I have started to notice just a few signs of Konchesky and Peltier feeling the interval training lung-busters up and down the flanks.

Guess the next couple of games with regard to performances and Pearson's set up will tell us more. And Mills is due for another red card soon anyway...

Ps - I agree with you to a certain extent old fox, the 'keep a winning team' argument certainly has it's flaws.

But there is the point about consistency and also being cautious of when you are bringing in a 'better' player or simply dropping a good player after one bad performance.

What an epic penalty shoot-out that was! I've not seen anything like it.