Stoke City boss Narcis Pelach defended his latest change in tactics following the Boxing Day home defeat by Leeds United after seeing the Potters extend their winless run to nine matches.
Four points out of a possible 27 is the club's worst winless run in the league since taking only two points from their opening 10 games at the start of the 2019-20 season under Nathan Jones - and they were booed off by significant numbers of the fans still left in the ground at the final whistle.
The plummeting Potters now stand in 19th place in the Championship going into Sunday's home game with Sunderland - just three points outside the relegation zone.