As team sheets were handed around in the media suite at 2pm yesterday, the first thing that was identified was the inclusion of long-term absentees Joel Lynch and Steven Caulker on the substitutes bench.
Yes, there were a couple of notable absentees, but the feeling was that this was simply Ian Holloway utilising his squad with another tough Championship clash coming up on Tuesday.
It wasn't until Ollie's post-match comments when attention turned to Kazenga Lua Lua, and the fact that he'd been dropped from the squad for arriving late to training.
It's widely acknowledged that Lua Lua has had a tough time of late following the passing of his father, and for that everyone passes on their sincerest sympathies.
This is something which Ian Holloway mentioned as well, saying that he'll do everything he can to help the youngster through what will be one of the toughest periods of his life.
However as a footballer Lua Lua must act with a level of professionalism.
What Ollie is assembling is a team filled with hard-working professionals, who respect the team's needs over their own personal needs, and with that he has set an expectation for his players to give their best every day; regardless of whether it's in training or on a match-day.
With this in mind, it was be hugely unfair to reward the Brighton loanee with a place in the match-day squad when he hasn't met these required levels in terms of commitment, particularly when this would be at the expense of another Hoops player who is putting in the effort behind the scenes.
But let's keep it in perspective, as far as we know this is a one-off occurrence and not something that should be blown out of proportion; as long as Lua Lua sees the error that he's made and gets his head down to show his commitment to the club, then i'd expect him to come back into the fold as soon as Tuesday night when his attributes could be a huge asset against Barnsley at Oakwell.
