Following defeat to Cardiff midweek, Nathan Jones’ side will be keen to recapture their form against a side who ended their nine-game winless league run against Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday night.
Nathan Jones said:
(You can watch Nathan's full press conference on iFollow by clicking the link here)
Who?
Stoke City occupied a position in the Premier League for ten consecutive seasons, spanning from 2008 until 2018 when they were relegated to the Championship.
The 1972 League Cup winners have remained in the second tier for the last two campaigns and look set to improve on their 15th place finish last term, whilst currently lurking seven points below the play-off places in 9th position.
The Manager – Michael O’Neill
Michael O’Neill succeeded Nathan Jones as manager of Stoke in November 2019 and at the time juggled the role whilst continuing to take charge of Northern Ireland too.
He resigned from the national team in April 2020 and helped the Potters win four out of nine matches to avoid relegation after the season restarted.
Main threat – Nick Powell
Nick Powell was once on books at Manchester United and represented England at every youth level but moved on from Old Trafford in 2016 with a focus on securing regular game-time. He got exactly that with Wigan Athletic, before joining the Potters in 2019.
He has already outscored his tally of five goals from last season, including scoring the second goal against the Hatters at Kenilworth Road in October.
When and where?
Kick-off is 3pm at the Bet365 Stadium on Saturday 20th February.
Man in the middle?
The referee for Saturday’s match is Robert Jones, who most recently took charge of the Hatters in the 1-0 away win against Hull City at the end of last season.
Played before?
The two sides met in October and Stoke were 2-0 winners on the day courtesy of goals from Steven Fletcher and Nick Powell.
Follow the action
Away games on a Saturday are not available free to season ticket holders this season, but we hope as many supporters as possible will get behind the lads from home with a £10 match pass which are on sale now.
All of the money from every match pass sold comes directly back to the Club and is a valuable source of revenue as matches continue with limited crowds permitted to home matches. We are very grateful for your support by watching on iFollow when you are unable to attend matches in person.
