by Michael Baggaley
michael.baggaley@thesentinel.co.uk

PERHAPS in tribute to guest of honour Ricky Hatton, Liam Lawrence pulled no punches in his assessment of a frustrating afternoon for Stoke City.

Lawrence watched from the bench as Stoke roared into a 2-0 lead by the break, but by the time he came on with 10 minutes to play, Wolves were well on their way to a 2-2 draw and a deserved point.

He said: “In the first half, we made them look very average and were deservedly 2-0 up. It could have been more.

“In the second, we came out a different team and didn’t do the basics right. We didn’t get it up to the front men, didn’t get the ball off them and didn’t keep the ball in midfield or defence. We didn’t give ourselves a chance in the second half.

“That’s no more than the manager has just told us. In the first half we did everything correctly. In the second, we didn’t do a lot correctly. That’s why it ended up 2-2 and not 3-0 or more.”

The disappointment completed a mixed week for Lawrence.

He had a much better day on Friday when he and Glenn Whelan were confirmed in the Republic of Ireland squad to face France in a two-legged play-off for the World Cup finals.

The teams meet in Dublin on November 14 and Paris on November 18.
Lawrence was left out of Ireland’s final World Cup group qualifier, at home to Montenegro on October 14, and Whelan sat out the game suspended.

But that was a dead game after he and Whelan had helped them draw at home to Italy four days earlier to confirm second place in the group and a play-off spot.

Now both are hoping to join Stoke’s Denmark keeper Thomas Sorensen by earning a place in South Africa.

Lawrence said: “They are two massive games and luckily I’ve got the call again. I feel honoured again and we will just have to give it our best at home and see if we can get something away. It is going to be tough for places so I will just have to keep my fingers crossed.”

Lawrence’s cause would be helped if he were a regular for Stoke, but despite failing to beat Wolves, he says the players in possession have earned their shirts after going four Premier League games unbeaten.

He was full of praise for sponsors’ man of the match Matthew Etherington, who set up City’s first goal and then scored his first for the club. to seemingly put Stoke on the way to victory.

Lawrence said: “He had their right back on toast at times, but we didn’t feed him enough in the second half and he didn’t get into the game as much as he did in the first half. But I thought he was man of the match by a mile.”