Thomas Sorensen - 6 - Made the decisioon to punch rather than catch and was generally safe, but was caught flat footed for the second goal, maybe a little harsh.
Robert Huth - 6 - Strong, solid but distribution was poor and very one dimensional in his distribution
Abdoulaye Faye - 6 - Scored the consolation but was a bit dodgy at times, allowing balls to bounce that put his side in trouble and giving the ball away
Ryan Shawcross - 8(Man of the Match) - Covered all members of the back four at one time or other and was fantastic defending wise as he hardly put a foot wrong, however distribution could have been better
Danny Higginbotham - 5 - Just kept lumping the ball forward, without much success and was chasing shadows for most of the game as he was really given the run around. Let Fletcher get in front of him for the second goal
Rory Delap - 5 - I'd hoped that I'd never have to see Delap on the right wing again but there he was for the start of the new season. No pace, little skill and it looked like he was struggling with his usually reliable fitness
Glenn Whelan - 5 - Well off the pace, allowed the opposition to run through and distribution was really bad
Dean Whitehead - 5 - Hardly got involved as he struggled to stamp any authority on the game
Matthew Etherington - 7 - Was dangerous when he had the ball but was caught in his own half a couple of times, luckily we weren't punished
Kenwyne Jones - 7 - Fantastic start. Caused havoc with Fuller, one great run saw him hold the defender off before firing a shot onto the bar. Unluckily his debut was wrecked after just 12 minutes when a crude challenge from Craddock saw him limp off
Ricardo Fuller - 7 - Started fantastically with Jones but struggled in his new partners absence, being starved of service and any support what so ever until Tuncay came on when it got slightly better. Did look dangerous when we managed to get the ball to him
Mama Sidibe - 4 - Dreadful. Won nothing, no chasing, no distribution, no control, no awareness, just nothing. The sub was thankfully subbed himself after fourty minutes on the field
Tuncay - 6 - Starved of any decent service and support but linked up decently with Fuller and Etherington on the occasions when he did have the ball
Michael Tonge - 5 - Never really got in the game as he struggled with the frantic tempo as we chased the game