Tom Cleverley has explained why he chose to field Festy Ebosele on the left in Tuesday’s win over Bristol City.

The Republic of Ireland international is more recognised as a right-sided player, and his selection in midweek meant two left-footed players in Ken Sema and Yasser Larouci started on the bench.

“Festy is a very two-footed player and you struggle to identify which is his strongest foot,” said Cleverley.

“He identifies as a right-footed player but he can certainly play with both. That gives us a good option.

“I think when it looks like it could be a man v man game down the outsides, like the other night, then I like the physical profile of Ryan Andrews and Festy.

“I think they really dominate their opponents.

“We have really great options in that area of the pitch.

“At Plymouth, Yasser had a tremendous game and the reason I took him out was that sometimes he’s not managed to back up a good Friday or Saturday performance with the same on the Tuesday.

“That showed at Swansea, where his performance was a bit under par.

“So I thought we can get the best out of Yasser when it’s Saturday/Saturday.

“Festy did a solid job on Tuesday and with Jeremy back as well I have lots of options.”

Bristol City came to Vicarage Road and were keen to have possession and play on the front foot – other visitors have sat a lot deeper and set out to frustrate.

As the home manager, what does Cleverley think suits his team best?

“It’s a tough one to answer because there are pros and cons with both,” he replied.

“I think when we show personality on the ball then it helps us if teams come out because we can play through the lines and hurt teams, and get man v man in the top line.

“But as we saw against Derby we had the patience and we ground them down and won the game that way.

“I can’t really give you a straight answer because we’ve faced both this season and been successful against both.”