Tomas looks like a man in need of a rest

I believe and – more to the point – genuinely hope – that Tomas Soucek gets a rest on Wednesday night.

This is a great player who isn’t quite showing the form that made him Hammer of the Year last time around – in effect it seems clear that he has had perhaps a tad too much football.

It would be easy to say the same about Declan and Vladi but in the captain’s case an injury on international duty gave him five weeks of full recovery time last season.

Tomas’ dedication in being up for every match is so admirable but the pace may be starting to show and it would be an ask too far for him to be included in the EFL Cup match and maybe even the Leeds match next weekend.

Despite all that there was a moment which clearly showed his dedication to the cause when chasing across to cover for Vladi who had been skinned down by side by Ronaldo.

It was a brilliant intervention when urgently required and of course he kept it as simple as ever in the middle but the spark up front is missing.

Wednesday night must also be the moment for Alphone Areola and it won’t be too much to ask of Kurt Zouma to play his third game in less than a week.

CandH’s team: Areola, Fredericks, Zouma, Oggy, Cresswell; Rice, Kral, Lanzioni, Bowen, Vlasic, Antonio