Two downsides as Souttar defies Leicester's catch-22 amid Winks respect debate

If they’d have been defeated handsomely by Millwall, there would have been questions over the players’ professionalism and pride. If those relegated players had magicked up a performance and won, fans would have asked why they didn’t play that way weeks ago.

But City did avoid that lose-lose situation, not just because they drew, but because of Harry Souttar.

Brought in for his first appearance in 16 months, and his first for City in two-and-a-half years, he was the one player in the 11 who was not associated with this dismal campaign.

Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.

He was the one player who could get away with playing extremely well and not be accused of only turning up when the pressure was off.

And indeed, he did play extremely well. He’s got plenty to play for personally as he bids to prove his fitness and sneak a spot in Australia’s World Cup squad, but his commitment on the pitch did shine through as him showing fight for City.

He threw himself at Luke Thomas’s cross without a care for the Millwall players he bulldozed out of the way. He was the one player to rush over and give a piece of his mind to Jake Cooper after the Millwall skipper’s dangerous challenge on Abdul Fatawu.

And at the back, he protected the goal defiantly, his 12 headed clearances the most of any City player in a game this season.

But he provided a rare positive amid the bleakness of relegation, there are two downsides to Souttar’s performance.

The first is the hypothetical. What if Souttar had been available all season? It feels like he would not have been a starter under Marti Cifuentes, but under Gary Rowett, who has often complained about the physical profiles in the squad and their weakness at defending set-pieces, it feels like he would have been a regular and made a significant impact, one that may have been enough to at least take the relegation battle to the final weekend.

The second is that this may be the end of Souttar’s time at the club. Because of injury and selection, this was just his 17th appearance for City since joining more than three years ago.

And it’s likely that he will make just one more. If he stays fit through the summer, it seems likely that Sheffield United at the very least will be interested in him, but possibly other Championship clubs too.

City will likely be in a position where any player who could fetch a few million pounds will have to be sold. Fans will likely only get to enjoy Souttar for one more game.

While Souttar’s name in the line-up brought some positivity, Harry Winks’ caused anger.

After his expletive-laden argument with supporters at Portsmouth, fans have turned on the midfielder again. The strength of feeling towards the midfielder was clear from Tuesday’s game, when he was booed by City fans throughout, and yet Rowett chose to bring him into the starting line-up anyway.

Rowett’s justification was that Winks was the only fit player for the position at the base of the midfield, and that he had to respect the league in fielding his best available line-up.

Maybe that’s understandable. But there will be those that question if it was more important for Rowett to show respect to City’s fans rather than the league and not include Winks in his line-up.

There’s an argument to say that players who are pictured sunning it up with an Aperol Spritz as their team are relegated, as was the case with Winks this time last year, show they do not care about the club’s plight and therefore should not play again.

What was most interesting was Rowett’s follow-up to his selection explanation. He said that if he’d been here long term, “certain cultural things wouldn’t happen”. Asked to elaborate, he said it’s trickier to discipline a player when he’s not going to be their boss in the future.

Moving forward, the high standards that every manager mentions actually need to be put in place at City.

It’s a shame that Abdul Fatawu’s time with City is ending on such a low note. He might be the most talented player in the Championship, but there’s been a level of inconsistency of late that’s held him back, and could cost the club a few million.

With his speed and with his ability to score spectacular goals, he is still City’s most valuable player. There won’t be anyone who fetches as big a fee this summer.

But £30m or more feels like a pipedream now. Fatawu’s not delivered often enough over the past few months to warrant a club spending that kind of money on him.

On Friday, he tried to be too elaborate to the point it felt like a lack of care, dribbling too far inside rather than offloading, or lofting a bouncing ball over an opponent’s head rather than bringing it under control.

Sometimes players do too much because they’re desperately trying to make a difference. Sometimes they do too much because they want to show off and don’t care about the team’s game. It feels like Fatawu creeps into the latter category occasionally.

He will still get a Premier League club this summer, but if he is to make the most of his talent, then he needs to wise up.

With the final game against Blackburn a complete dead rubber, Rowett has vowed to make more changes next weekend, and so the teenagers that featured off the bench may be granted starts.

It will be particularly good to see Louis Page in action again, the 17-year-old enjoying some bright moments after he was introduced on Friday.

He intelligently turned out of trouble and surged up the pitch on a couple of occasions, while he picked up good attacking positions and got shots away.

While it’s clear that any senior players who attract interest will be sold, it would be an almighty shame if City’s quest for cash extended to selling some of their best youth products.

There’s a slight acceptance that Ben Nelson and Jeremy Monga will go, but already there are rumours that 15-year-old Darren Motsi may be picked up by a Premier League team.

The one shining light of relegation is that there is a core of youth products who are ready to go and a year in League One could aid their development hugely. It would leave a lot of fans bereft if those same players also had to be sold.

It’s debatable whether anger or apathy is more dangerous for a club in City’s situation. There were elements of both on Friday night.

A banner reading ‘King Power out’ was flown overhead as the match began. There were still boos from home fans for the players, and there were still chants of ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’ at full-time, but none were as vociferous as they were on Tuesday.

In fact, Millwall boss Alex Neil said the atmosphere was not as “hostile” as he expected it to be.

The stands were only half-full but there wasn’t a drastic decrease in home fans attending, despite nothing riding on the game.

The lower down the leagues, the lower the TV and sponsorship revenue and so the more important ticket sales become.

City need to engage the fanbase enough that they do turn up next season. It’s not just the team that needs support, but the club.

After these past two seasons, it feels like that support has to be earned back through open communication and good decisions.

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