Midfield role for Pitman

A few astute fans will have noted that Pitman fell back into midfield for the Watford Capital One tie in the second half. The need to combat the opposition forced Howe to ensure we have five in midfield to match up with them, but AFCB only had one up front for the  entire whole match. So when Thomas came on after 63 minutes, Pitman was pulled back. 

Brett's work rate is seen even more clearly when he was helping out in midfield. He does like a good tackle and while his talent is for scoring goals, he certainly knows how to defend well. Perhaps if Brett had been playing a lot of games he would heave been taken off, but he was kept on for the entire 90 minutes. It may have been a bit risky, with the Doncaster game coming up so soon. Getting that time though into his legs will help him in the long term, and he did not pick up an injury, so all worked out well.

Pitman plays his part for the team by dropping back in the Watford game,
but I hope we don't see him there in too many league games. 

Eddie could have put on Donal earlier if he had felt that Pitman needed a break. I imagine that the decision was pre-planned though and that Thomas was always going to play up front on his own in the last third of the game. Thomas did not really get as involved as he might and did not have much of an impact. Coulibaly and McDermott were more productive.

As AFCB bring in Tokelo Rantie it may be that Pitman could drop back into midfield for future games when required, but I don't think it is a position that he will be aiming to fill that often. Giving Brett time on the pitch I was probably the main reason behind the decision to put Pitman in midfield. However, it does demonstrate that the players do have to be versatile. Playing out of position is something they may have to embrace at certain times.