'I reckon' - Stoke City verdict on Preston North End visit as 'interesting situation' with player explained
PNE host the Potters on Friday evening in front of the Sky Sports cameras
Stoke City’s squad depth could prove key in Friday night’s clash at Deepdale.
That is the view of Potters reporter, Pete Smith, ahead of Preston North End’s home encounter with Mark Robins’ side. PNE are desperate for a win after losing four straight games and know victory would take them one point ahead of 13th placed Stoke.
The Potters endured a wobble of their own mid-way through the season, having - like Preston - started the campaign strongly. On the back of four points from the last two home games, Stoke are looking to build and finish the season well.
“Everybody, I think, in the division is looking at Preston's form and thinking that that's a winnable match at the moment,” said Smith. “Preston have always given Stoke a good game. I can't think of too many matches that haven't been really tightly contested.
“I'm sure that will be the same on Friday, whoever Paul Heckingbottom puts out. But yeah, I think Stoke will see it as a chance to build on a decent result last weekend against Watford.
“Preston, obviously, it's a home game that they've got to win. But if Stoke can stay in there, then they can make changes through the game as well and perhaps finish the game stronger...
“The big thing over the last couple of weeks is Mark Robins has been able to make subs that have improved the XI at that time in the match. Whereas for a couple of months, he wasn't able to do that. So it'll be a match, I reckon, that will go through the 95 minutes.”
Robins was appointed on New Year’s Day 2025 and is the latest manager tasked with taking Stoke towards the business end of the Championship. As Smith explains, his tactics and approach has largely been consistent.
“Yeah, apart from when they had a really tough spell coming out of January, when he thought he had to do something and change to wing-backs for a couple of weeks,” said Smith. But even then he was saying, ‘Look, this isn't going to be a way that we go forward. It's just we've got to try something different for the here and now.’
“More often than not, it's been 4-2-3-1 and he's tried to make as few changes as possible. That's been more difficult sometimes than others. But yeah, he tries to be consistent, which is one of the best things about him. I think the players and supporters can see what his plan is.
“That's good when you're looking to someone to be your leader. You want to have trust in somebody and know what they're doing. I think everybody's got a good idea of the way he wants to play, even if there have been matches where he hasn't been able to do that for the full game.”
How’s Ben Pearson getting on?
On the ex-PNE man, Smith said: “He is being used sparingly, I would say, by Mark Robins. I think there's probably a lot of frustration that he hasn't been available more often this year. It's not that he's picked up a load of injuries. He's just been coming off the back of a really bad injury and he's not been available as much as he should have been.
“And I wonder if he'll look back at some point in the future and think, ‘I wonder if I could have done anything differently to make my availability better’. I hope he doesn't have those regrets later in life. Because when he's fit and he's sharp, he's brilliant in that position you saw him in for all those years.
“He came off the bench on Saturday against Watford and the match was still in the balance a little bit. He just made a thumping tackle in the middle of the pitch that just stamped Stoke’s authority on the game. From that point on, it was easy street and when he can do that kind of thing, it's great.
“We've seen him do it for about an hour in matches over the last few months and then he's kind of chasing players a little bit. He's not been able to carry on for the duration. I think he still needs another good pre-season to get back up to what we know he could be. He's got one year left on his contract at Stoke; probably an interesting situation with him to see what happens next.”