The Championship is back underway after an international break that couldn’t have come sooner for the struggling Potters.
Attention now turns to a 4th-placed Sunderland side who would love nothing more than to collect three points against their former manager Alex Neil.
Here's everything you need to know about The Potters' upcoming game against The Black Cats…
Team News
With only 56 points collected in 51 games, Alex Neil will certainly be under pressure to deliver successful performancessooner rather than later.
The Potters squad has been torn apart through injuries and luckily the international break has provided the squad with much-needed recovery time.
It’s expected that 4 or 5 players could be back for the Sunderland game with Neil stating, “there’s good signs at the moment” going on further to add that Stoke “will have a lot more players to bring back.”
One of the worst injuries was Ben Wilmot. Wilmot was one of two centre-backs that was fit and now with him being put on the sidelines, it left The Potters with only one first-choicecentre-back. That being Luke McNally.
However, Neil has brought in former Newcastle defender Ciaran Clark on a free transfer who will help to fill the void left by the injured Ben Wilmot.
Although Neil will be keen to put him in the first eleven as soon as possible this will not be the case for Saturday's game.
This is down to Clark's lack of match fitness with Neil stating that “he’s not quite ready” but it “will hopefully not be too long” till we see Clark in the starting eleven.
The Manager
Hard work and aggression are the fundamentals of Tony Mowbray's game. Mainly looking to press the opposition in the midfield by creating a narrow and tight area which forces the opposition into mistakes.
Once the possession is won Mowbray makes his teams play fast with emphasis on always passing the ball forward. Mowbray's attacking style is based around freeing up certain players to create an advantage.
Source: FM Scout
Head to Head
Both teams last season were victorious with Sunderland winning 1-0 away from home and Stoke smashing The Black Cats 5-1 with both wins being managed by Alex Neil.
Sunderland has been the most successful team overall winning 68 drawing 38 and losing 48.
Comments