Stoke City

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Stoke City welcome Preston North End for a clash between two sides battling for the play-offs on Friday afternoon (15:00 GMT kick-off).

The Potters have won just one of their past five (L4) and are two points behind the top-six.

The Lilywhites are unbeaten in their past six games (W2 D4) and have only lost one of their previous 11.

• Stoke have won just one of their past 12 home league games against Preston (D6 L5) and are winless in all seven since relegation from the Premier League in 2018 (D2 L5).

• The away team is unbeaten in the previous 11 league meetings between Stoke and Preston (D4 L7), since the Lilywhites' 3-1 home win in August 2019.

• Stoke lost 2-0 against Leeds on Boxing Day last year, last losing consecutive Boxing Day league games in 2008/2009.

• Preston have won three of their past four Boxing Day league games (L1), as many as they had in their previous 16 (D7 L6).

• Stoke's Mark Robins won his first three Football League matches against Preston – since then, he's winless in all 13 against the Lilywhites (D5 L8)

Mark Elliott
BBC Radio Stoke commentator

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The close games Stoke were winning during the first quarter of the season have now turned into defeats.

They were decent in possession and worth a point at Watford but got nothing and again looked relatively blunt in attack.

Stoke face a couple of big home games between Christmas and New Year as they try to enter 2026 in the Championship's top six but to do that they'll have to solve three immediate problems.

Firstly, they'll have to deal with what the manager Mark Robins called a changed dynamic, created by the absence of Junior Tchamadeu.

Maksym Talovierov covered for him at Vicarage Road and did ok but looked too uncomfortable leaving space behind him to offer enough to meaningfully support Stoke's attack.

Talovierov is a centre back by trade and will come again but Tchamadeu's absence affected the balance of the team significantly.

Secondly, they'll need to win the first contact from crosses and set-pieces around both boxes more often to maximise their own attacking threat and eliminate a flaw that's crept into their game at the other end, despite their status as the best defence in the division in terms of goals conceded.

Finally, they need to be more efficient in front of goal, but that is something everyone who watches Stoke regularly has been saying for a while.

At Watford, they didn't create or take enough shooting opportunities but that is an all too regular criticism made both internally and externally.

It's not too late for those within the building to provide the solution but it may be, profit and sustainability rules permitting, that January and the transfer window could arrive at the perfect time.

Stoke City boss Mark Robins criticised his team's "galling" defending for the goal which led to their defeat against Watford.

The Potters were on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline at Vicarage Road after conceding from a set play. The result was Stoke's fourth defeat in five Championship matches.

Robins told BBC Radio Stoke: "We lost it with a set play. It was galling, it really is galling.

"They have got too many first contacts and we were big - that's desire, and 'You are not going to beat me in the air, you are not going to run off me'. The fact of the matter is they have run off us.

"Prior to that it's a nothing free-kick. We give the free-kick away and it's a chance for them to load it in our box and they do it with quality because they have got quality players on the ball. [Imran] Louza is a player you don't want to give too many opportunities to load your box. We did that and didn't deal with it.

"There's bits and pieces but not enough goal attempts. It's the same story. There wasn't that much in it but it's just disappointing that we come out on the wrong end of a scoreline again and away from home."

Stoke City's players and staff will be able to spend Christmas Day with their families, says head coach Mark Robins.

The Potters visit Watford on Saturday (15:00 GMT) before hosting Preston on Boxing Day (15:00) and have a home game with Sheffield United on the evening of 29 December.

"When you come to work you leave that world behind. Coming up to Christmas is important for everybody who celebrates it and it's important people spend time with family as much as they can," Robins told BBC Radio Stoke.

"Our programme will reflect that. They'll get some time with their families but obviously get the work done for tomorrow (Saturday) and then everything done for Preston prior to Christmas Day because I'll give that day to be with their families.

"That's the way I've done it for a number of years and I think the players appreciate that and pay it back."

Many clubs will have their players in training on Christmas Day ahead of their matches on 26 December and Robins has experienced both approaches as a player himself.

"I've done it both ways - been in Christmas Day, travelled Christmas Day and been in the hotel so you miss the family so that's the sacrifice, if you can call it that because millions of people would swap places with us," he said.

"Christmas is important because of the family side of things and I try to incorporate that but you know what you're doing when you're working in football, if you don't like that then you're in the wrong job really."

You can hear more Stoke City coverage on BBC Sounds.

Watford are on a three-game unbeaten run, coming into Saturday's game (15:00 GMT) on the back of draws with Wrexham and Sheffield Wednesday and a win over Norwich.

Stoke dropped out of the top six after three successive defeats, but returned to winning ways by beating Swansea City 2-1 last weekend.

• Watford have won three of their past four home league games against Stoke (D1), more than they had in their previous 12 (W2 D3 L7).

• Stoke have won just one of their past nine league games against Watford (D3 L5), a 1-0 home victory in August 2023.

• Since the start of November, Watford have drawn the joint-most games in the Championship (five – level with Wrexham). However, no side has lost fewer times (one) than the Hornets in this period.

• Stoke have lost their past three away games in the Championship, as many defeats as in their previous 12 away matches in the competition (W5 D4 L3). They have already had a run of four consecutive away defeats in league action this year, between February and March (four).

• Watford have gained more points from losing positions than any other side in the Championship this season (20).

"We could be third quite easily... That's not saying we should get carried away again either, but we are in it."

BBC Stoke's Lucas Yeomans and content creator Ben Rowley reflect on a victory against Swansea that gets Stoke City back to winning ways.

Listen to the full episode of a Cold, Wet Tuesday Night and more Stoke City content on BBC Sounds.

Image source, Stoke City

Stoke City have announced academy technical director Gareth Owen has left the Championship club.

Owen, 43, has been in the role since February after stepping up from his position as academy director, which he had held since 2019.

Owen, who began his playing career with the Potters before having spells with Stockport County and Port Vale, retired from playing in 2013 and began his coaching journey back at Stoke in the club's academy.

He took charge of the academy six years ago before having his role widened earlier this year to focus on the "top end " of the player pathway, help link the academy with the first team and take on a "leadership role" across both the men's and women's sides.

Owen announced he was leaving Stoke in July 2023 but reversed that decision to continue overseeing the development of the club's young talent, including the likes of strikers Nathan Lowe and Emre Tezgel and Italy youth defender Laurence Giani.

In a statement,, external Stoke sporting director Jonathan Walkers said: "From starting his journey as a coach through to his time as academy technical director, we thank Gareth for his contribution to Stoke City and wish him all the very best for the future."

Mark Elliott
BBC Radio Stoke commentator

Image source, Getty Images

Ben Pearson has a 100% record in the Championship this season - one shot, one goal.

That is what he was told after the game anyway and anyone capable of a goal like his against Swansea should probably shoot more often.

It was his first goal for the club in his 74th game and a first career strike since he scored for Preston against Barnsley in 2019.

The now 30-year-old was 24 then, Tones and I were dominating the charts with Dance Monkey and Theresa May had just been forced out of Downing Street.

Speaking of dancing and Theresa May, Pearson's celebratory moves after his goal were about as awkward as hers were at that 2018 Conservative Party conference, but I digress.

Pearson has scored six goals in 345 professional games but made the half dozen with a curling shot from all of 30 yards, which arced away from the grasping Lawrence Vigouroux as he dived to his right.

It was a brilliant goal and deserved to be decisive.

Asked why he does not shoot more often, Pearson put it down to the fact he's "pessimistic" and worried that an opponent he misfires against could break on Stoke and score themselves.

But maybe this will inspire both Pearson and his team-mates to be a little bit less cautious in front of goal as they search to be more clinical and efficient in the final third.

Stoke look most threatening when they are direct and brave in their decision making and take a few more chances in possession far from their own goal.

As the manager Mark Robins put it after the game: "Buy a ticket, win a raffle."

Pearson did, Stoke won three valuable points and got themselves back on track after a poor run of form. And having been the better side in this one they go into an intense festive schedule on a high.

Stoke City boss Mark Robins says it "doesn't feel good" to have dropped out of the promotion places in the Championship after five defeats in six matches.

That poor run has seen the Potters fall from second spot down to eighth ahead of Swansea City's visit to the bet365 Stadium on Saturday (12:30 GMT).

Although frustrated, Robins says being only one point off seventh is a reason to remain positive.

"We're going through a really, really tough patch at the moment," he told BBC Radio Stoke.

"After the start we've made this is a patch where you knew it could come but you hope it didn't and you can keep picking up the points and we haven't done that.

"But we're in a good position to attack that top six - this is the lowest we've been this season and it doesn't feel good.

"It feels much much better when you're in that top two."

Robins said the players have been "really disappointed" with recent results but knows they have the ability to turn things around after starting the season by winning eight and losing only three of their first 14 games.

"We have a way of working that is successful, there's no doubt about it," he said.

"Form can be temporary, but you can get that back because your quality comes back.

"Sometimes we're really good and sometimes we're not so good and we've got to stop being punished with the errors we're making."

Given Stoke have never finished higher than 14th since dropping out of the Premier League in 2018, Robins says some perspective is needed when looking at recent results.

"We nearly got relegated last year and we've been in the bottom part of the division since we got relegated [from the Premier League].

"We spoke this summer about finishing higher than 14th would be a success.

"We've had a great start and everyone - including me - is saying 'why not?' [promotion] and it's still why not? - we have got so many games to play.

"Hopefully this will be our blip, because performances have been pretty good."

Stoke City will look to get their promotion bid back on track when they welcome Swansea City on Saturday (12:30 GMT).

The Potters have lost five of their past six games (W1) to slip to eighth but are still just one point off the play-off places.

The Swans have picked up two consecutive wins for the first time this season, beating relegation rivals Oxford and Portsmouth, to move six points clear of the drop zone.

• Stoke have lost just one of their past 14 home league games against Swansea (W9 D3), losing 2-1 in March 2021.

• Swansea City have won one of their previous eight league games against Stoke City (D3 L4), a 3-0 win in April 2024.

• Stoke have lost two of their past three home league matches (W1), as many as in their previous 12 combined. The Potters are looking to avoid losing consecutive home games for the first time since September 2024.

• Swansea have lost their past three away league games, with each defeat coming under a different manager (Alan Sheehan, Darren O'Dea and Vitor Matos). They most recently lost more consecutively on the road in December/January last season (four).

• Stoke manager Mark Robins has won just one of his 14 Championship games against Swansea (D7 L6) but that did come for the Potters at home in February in a 3-1 win.

Image source, Getty Images

Vitor Matos reckons Swansea City must topple one of the Championship's "best football teams" if they are to continue their upturn in form at Stoke City on Saturday (12:30 GMT).

Swansea have partially eased concerns that they could face a long battle against relegation this season after back-to-back home victories over fellow strugglers Oxford and Portsmouth.

But Matos' team face a sterner challenge as they take on a Stoke side eyeing a return to the Premier League.

"Stoke is a brilliant team, for me one of the best teams of the league in terms of the way they play," Swansea head coach Matos said.

"They defend really well - they want to press, they have a clear idea how to do it. They attack really well, [with] different ways of attacking, sometimes with three, with [Aaron] Cresswell deep, sometimes using [Eric] Bocat in a different way, so they have a lot of variability.

"It's a team that can create different kind of problems with different players as well, and so we'll need to be on our maximum concentration and perform to compete.

Image source, Getty Images

"That's what we're going to try and it will not be for sure an easy place to go but we are really looking forward because it will be a brilliant game for us as well."

For all Matos' admiration of Stoke, Mark Robins' team will be looking to end their own slump in form when they face Swansea.

Having spent much of the season in and around the Championship's automatic promotion places, the Potters slipped to eighth having suffered a fifth defeat in their past six matches at Ipswich Town on Wednesday.

But Matos insists former Coventry City boss Robins has the experience to turn Stoke's form around.

"[He is] a manager that is really experienced here and in this league, so for sure he knows how to get them out of the situation," he added.

"When you have these moments, every game that comes is an opportunity to get out of it, so I think that's how they will see it.

"It's up to us to have a proper football game to compete and to show as well that we are here for a reason."

Mark Elliott
BBC Radio Stoke commentator

Image source, Getty Images

Stoke are out of the Championship's top six for the first time this season and now face what may prove to be the sternest test of their promotion credentials.

Five defeats from six games have shaken everyone's confidence and against Ipswich Stoke looked like a team lacking the belief required to take risks in possession and play forward more instinctively in the final third.

Defensively, they were typically solid against a side who only produced one moment of real quality.

That was in the second minute and Jaden Philogene's perfectly placed curling shot from the edge of the box, arcing back into top corner of the goal, was enough to win the game in part because Stoke could not make the most of their possession and the decent positions they got themselves into.

Stoke have to be more precise in the final third but they also have to be more direct in taking on shots or crosses as well as in their movement and in their choices.

Sometimes they have to try a different type of pass in congested areas and they need to look to stretch teams with more strong forward runs in support of whoever is playing as the team's central striker.

But their next few fixtures offer an opportunity to move beyond this run of poor results.

Stoke remain competitive in every game (Sheffield United away being the exception) so they should see three home games plus a trip to Watford as a way to finish 2025 with a flourish.

Seven points or more would keep them right in the pack chasing a play-off place.

As the manager Mark Robins keeps saying, there is a really special season there for the taking for the Potters if they want it and if they are good enough.

There is no doubt that everyone connected to the club wants success but the next three weeks or so may be pivotal in determining whether this group is good enough.

Stoke City boss Mark Robins spoke to BBC Radio Stoke following Wednesday's 1-0 loss at Ipswich in the Championship:

"It was a close game. One bit of quality came from them in the second minute, they took their chance and scored.

"From our perspective, we created not enough. From the back to the final third, we were really good.

"We moved the ball really well and the final pass, the final decision that's going to get you a shot or create something, is missing. We're taking the wrong option or not seeing the right one. When we get the chance for that final ball to create an opportunity, we're getting it wrong.

"Those are the things that are frustrating because, to me, that is easy.

"There were numerous occasions in the game where if we just take a little bit more care or we have a little bit more incisiveness, we'll win games.

"Back to front was really good, but the final third, final ball, final shot and final creativity was lacking against a really decent team who have started to roll into gear."

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Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna has praised Stoke City manager Mark Robins for his longevity in the game but isn't in a rush to emulate it.

The Tractor Boys welcome the Potters to Portman Road on Wednesday night and McKenna is expecting a tough game despite Stoke's 4-0 loss at Sheffield United on Saturday.

"I think they've been playing really well," McKenna told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"I've been impressed. One of the best footballing sides in the division for sure.

"I think they'd probably say themselves, Saturday was a one-off in terms of a game really getting away from them. Other than that, they've been tight in every game.

"We're expecting a really good team, a really good footballing test. It should make for a good game, so we're looking forward to it."

McKenna said Robins is doing "a really good job" at Stoke, with both sides fighting for promotion ahead of this fixture.

"Fair play, brilliant career as a manager after a good career as a player as well, big credit to him," McKenna said.

"They [Stoke] have had quite a few years in the division where they've not quite been able to get it going.

"This has been maybe the best they've done for quite a while and it's no surprise he's had a big input.

"He's a very good manager but that level of longevity is to be respected but not repeated in my case."

Listen to Kieran McKenna's full pre-match press conference on BBC Sounds.

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The FA Cup third round draw was made on Monday evening, with all 24 Championship clubs entering at this stage of the competition.

Ties will take place between Thursday, 8 January and Monday, 12 January.

These are the ties involving Championship clubs:

• Cambridge United v Birmingham City

• Hull City v Blackburn Rovers

• Bristol City v Watford

• Charlton Athletic v Chelsea

• Stoke City v Coventry

• Derby County v Leeds United

• Ipswich Town v Blackpool

• Cheltenham Town v Leicester City

• Fulham v Middlesbrough

• Burnley v Millwall

• Norwich City v Walsall

• MK Dons v Oxford United

• Portsmouth v Arsenal

• Preston North End v Wigan Athletic

• West Ham United v Queens Park Rangers

• Sheffield United v Mansfield Town

• Sheffield Wednesday v Brentford

• Doncaster Rovers v Southampton

• Swansea City v West Bromwich Albion

• Wrexham v Nottingham Forest

You can see the full draw here.

Ipswich and Stoke will both look to strengthen their bid for promotion when they meet in the Championship at Portman Road on Wednesday night (19:45 GMT).

The Tractor Boys bounced back from two games without a win with an impressive 3-0 victory over leaders Coventry on Saturday.

The Potters have stuttered in recent weeks, winning just one of their past five games (L4) including a heavy 4-0 loss at Sheffield United last time out.

• Ipswich have won just one of their past 10 league games against Stoke (D5 L4), though it did come in their most recent home meeting with the Potters in August 2023 (2-0).

• Stoke failed to score in either league meeting with Ipswich when they last faced in 2023-24, only once before going three without a goal against the Tractor Boys (between 1986 and 1987).

• Ipswich won nine of their 11 midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) home league games between 2022-23 and 2023-24 (D2), but since the start of last season have lost three of their four at Portman Road (D1).

• Stoke have won their past two midweek (Tues, Weds, Thurs) Championship games, last having a longer winning run between November 2022 and February 2023 (4).

• Ipswich's Jack Clarke has been involved in three goals in his past four league appearances against Stoke, scoring one and assisting two.

Mark Elliott
BBC Radio Stoke's Stoke City commentator

Image source, Shutterstock

Saturday's defeat by Sheffield United was a one off, an aberration in a season of highs and that must remain the case if Stoke are to retain a top six place as Christmas approaches.

Stoke City lost themselves on the way to South Yorkshire and need to find what they misplaced quickly with a tough trip to Ipswich on the horizon and four defeats from five to recover from.

You would have been forgiven for wondering whether a team of imposters had been allowed to walk out at Bramall Lane, so uncharacteristic were the goals they conceded.

Statistically the best defence in the league coming into the game repeatedly allowed free headers from Sheffield United corners, were pushed around by the home side's physicality and a side praised as one of the most competitive in the league lost out over and over again to powerful vertical runs.

It's not the Stoke we're used to seeing and it's one the manager Mark Robins will not want to see again.

But it's also no time to panic. This was poor but the quick turn around will allow these players, or those outside of the team sensing an opportunity, to put things right against an Ipswich side who have found form.

Stoke's consistency has been their strength but this season more than most, the Championship feels like Mrs Gump's box of chocolates.

Stoke City may not know what they're going to get from the opposition on Wednesday night but they know what they need to be. Themselves. The team we'd grown accustomed to seeing.

Stoke City boss Mark Robins spoke to BBC Radio Stoke after his side's 4-0 defeat at Sheffield United.

"It's a disappointing result and a disappointing performance from the first set play," he said.

"Don't over-react is my first thought even though it wasn't anything near where we want to be or need to be. I've spoken all season about the unwritten contract between us and the supporters and we fell way below that.

"We need to lick our wounds and make sure this doesn't happen again.

"I know exactly what's happened and it's an easy one to sort out as long as you want to go and head the ball and don't get pushed around.

"It's a chastening afternoon. It hurts, it stings but it's part of football.

"It is what it is. You always feel for the supporters who paid their money and travelled and they were brilliant because they were applauding us and I don't think we deserved that. I think we deserved a slap but we've certainly had one from Sheffield United."