Stewarty

Good stuff. There are a lot of positives to be taken from this game, beyond the obvious positive of securing all three points. We created a load of chances and should have been three up by half time. Seaborne and Lindsay put in assured performances; Dumbuya and Booth were solid defensively and a threat going forward; Bannigan was excellent, providing cover on the flank and drifting inside when required; and Pogba never gave their back four a moment’s peace. Dumbuya in particular put in an almost flawless performance. He was so good going forward that it led me to wonder whether he could be deployed further up the field, in front of Miller, who is a more defensive full-back.

I actually thought today's was a much improved performance. We looked bright for the first 30 minutes and created several chances. Should have been ahead by half-time. Dumbaya looked lively and took up positions higher up the pitch, stretching the play like SOD used to do. Muirhead also had a decent game, even though he faded in the second half. I'm not denying that there is a lot to work on, but on another day we would have won this comfortably.

Happy with that. Just hope the midfield is able to get forward quickly enough and support Pogba. Don't sant to see him flicking the ball on to no-one like against Falkirk.

Cerny Miller Frans Hendry Booth Welsh Bannigan McDaid Stevenson Lawless Pogba Either this or move Welsh forward and bring in Osman to play alongside Bannigan, with Stevo being rested. This would probably be more solid defensively but I'm a fan of Stevo and think some of the criticism of him has been a bit OTT recently.

Would like to see McDaid or Wilson start but I wouldn't want us to make wholesale changes. Looking forward to this one.

I thought Miller had a pretty solid game defensively. I haven't re-watched the game on TV but at the time I thought he was unlucky with the challenge that led to the goal. The ball could have gone anywhere.

That was pretty grim. Like others, I felt we were far too timid and nervous in the first 30 minutes. We seemed to lack belief and as a consequence resorted to the doomed strategy of hurling long balls towards Stevenson, who didn't stand a chance against Van Dijk and Boyata. After the first goal, when we started to play the ball on the deck, we looked better and grew in confidence, but we never looked like getting anything out of the game. There were, however, some positives to be taken from the match: Welsh was our best player in my opinion. He was composed, retained possession well, and tried to press higher up he pitch. Osman did a decent defensive job. I feared for Hendry and Lindsay but, aside from the odd sloppy pass, they rarely put a foot wrong. I liked that Hendry started to step out of defence with the ball, particularly in the second half; he looks a real prospect. Pogba looked a handful when he came on. Also, Gary Fraser looked good when he came on. He consistently looked for a forward pass rather playing the safe ball across the pitch. I really hope he can play his way back into contention for a place in the starting eleven.

Cheers.

Folks watching on TV: was it a handball in the box? Couldn't see it from where I am.

Also, I'm really looking forward to being back in the main stand for a game. It's years since I was last in that stand.

I'm quite optimistic about this one. Like others I'd be inclined to play Osman, Bannigan and Welsh in the middle of the park. The danger is that without a more attacking central midfielder like Stevenson, Doolan/Pogba may end up quite isolated. I can see Archie playing Stevo on the flank for this one.

I think there's a difference between being prone to injury and being extremely unlucky. Welsh's time on the treatment table was largely due to unrelated impact injuries, no? If so, it could happen to anyone and the term 'injury prone' may not be entirely accurate.

I've never been convinced by the portrayal of Welsh as 'injury prone'. Most of his absences have been due to unrelated impact injuries caused by bad challenges. Hopefully he's had his share of bad luck and will enjoy an injury free season. He's a class player when fit and on form.

Encouraging open training initiative. Sorry, that's only four. Makes a change from my usual verbosity though.

I quite like it.