Leeds United travelled to Stoke City on Wednesday night full of confidence after coming from 2-0 down to record a 3-2 victory over Norwich City on Saturday afternoon
Unfortunately, the Whites were unable to carry that momentum to the bet365 stadium as they fell to a 1-0 defeat late on and were ultimately punished for their shambolic performance.
The major talking point ahead of kick-off was Daniel Farke's decision to drop Crysencio Summerville, whose brace dragged Leeds back from the jaws of defeat and inspired them to secure three points late on against the Canaries.
The "baller" – as lauded by the German himself following his stellar individual display – was dropped for Jadon Anthony, while Daniel James and Glen Kamara made way for Wilfried Gnonto and Ilia Gruev.
Despite performing terribly on the night, Farke's men did have the opportunity to take the lead from the spot, however, Patrick Bamford was entrusted to take the penalty and blazed it over the bar, as Leeds were left cursing their decision to let him take it.
In the end, that miss proved to be the turning point as Stoke stole the three points in the 80th minute courtesy of a Pascal Strujik own goal.
Leeds United's worst performers against Stoke
As the saying goes, the real test of any footballer is if they can do it on a cold and windy night in Stoke and on this occasion, it appears Leeds weren't up for passing that test.
Given the outcome of the result, it is easy to pass the blame on the pantomime villain Bamford, who missed from 12 yards out, but there were several other players who hardly painted themselves in a positive light, especially from a defensive point of view.
Archie Gray was described as looking "jaded" by Leeds United writer Beren Cross for his performance against Norwich and unfortunately for the youngster, he put in a similar display against Stoke, recording the joint lowest match rating (6.4), as per SofaScore, while losing possession on 19 occasions and winning four of his nine ground duels.
On the same flank, there was also another notable villain in the form of Wilfried Gnonto, who was making his first start for the club since returning from injury, and it's fair to say, it was one to forget.
The stats behind Wilfried Gnonto's performances vs Norwich
The 19-year-old wouldn't have expected to be pulling on a Leeds United jersey again this season after handing in a written transfer request this summer, but a move never materialised and the Italian has an opportunity to showcase his talents in the Championship.
The £20k per-week dud, however, will be fearing for his place in the side moving forward following an abject display on Wednesday night, with the Italian struggling to make an impact in the final third.
Those woes were evidenced by the fact that the versatile forward player – who can operate centrally or on the left – recorded zero successful dribbles as he failed to utilise his skillset against the Potters, having also made zero key passes on the night and lost possession 13 times, as per SofaScore.
Off the ball too, the teenager shirked the responsibility of winning possession back for his team, putting in a rather weak display which saw him win only four of his 11 ground duels and make three fouls.
The player with the joint worst match rating of any starting player on the Leeds side (6.4/10), even lower than that man Bamford (6.5) – as per SofaScore – it was no surprise to see him hooked in the 70th minute, especially after making just 38 touches in the match, fewer than teammate Illan Meslier recorded between the sticks (67).
With performances like that, Leeds will potentially have regretted not selling him when they had the chance to in the summer.