As if having no available full-backs was not bad enough, Stoke had to patch up their back four again to cover for the loss of Ben Gibson, the latest player to join a growing list of absentees.
Gibson had been playing at left-back, despite being a centre-back by trade but he is left-footed, unlike Bosun Lawal who replaced him.
Lawal had already played at centre-back, right-back, in central midfield, as a 10 and up front this season before adding another position to his CV.
He did well, as did Maksym Talovierov on the other side, and the clean sheet Stoke kept at Norwich was well deserved despite the makeshift nature of the team.