A bare 32 minutes into his Fulham debut on Saturday - Stefan Johansen was hauled off.
The former Celtic midfielder started with high hopes in his debut against Birmingham on Saturday, and then saw it all go downhill when asked to park himself on the bench.
Head coach Slavisa Jokanovic thought he needed a more attacking set-up, so sacrificed one of two defensive midfielders. The sacrificial lamb was Johansen.
But the gaffer came to regret it when a stranded Tomas Kalas played a suicide square pass that left Michael Madl desperately upending Blues striker Clayton Donaldson.
The Whites centre back took the long walk as a second yellow card was brandished in his direction, and later Donaldson converted a second spot kick for the game’s only goal.
Jokanovic fronted up on his sub decision.
“Stefan Johansen is a very good player,” he said.
“I’m going to accept the whole responsibility today because we didn’t start very well.
“We didn’t find a way to combine with the more offensive players.
“But I tried to change the structure and I tried to find the solution. I didn’t find it with enough quality. I don’t want to blame my players, but it’s very clear we did not do a good job.”
The visit of Burton tonight will bring the enforced absence of Madl, with Iceland international Ragnar Sigurdsson set to make his debut in the heart of defence.
