Stoke City’s squad is nearly totally healthy as they prepare for their Championship match against Cardiff City at the bet365 Stadium. Enda Stevens is making progress in his fitness recovery.
Stevens, 33, has been out since mid-December due to a calf injury, which was followed by a severe hamstring strain. The summer signing left-back is back running at Clayton Wood with fitness staff and hopes to resume full training by the end of February.
It has been another difficult season for the veteran Republic of Ireland defender, whose last two seasons at Sheffield United were wrecked by a succession of ailments, and Stoke have progressively looked to central midfielder Jordan Thompson to take up as number one at left or wing-back.
Thompson, 27, received a booking against Coventry on Saturday, which means he will face a two-game suspension if he is caught again in the next four games. His tally has increased to nine since the two he received against Ipswich Town on New Year’s Day qualify as a red card, for which he has already served a one-match suspension.
Thompson must be on his best behaviour for forthcoming games against Cardiff City (away), Middlesbrough (home), Leeds United (away), and Preston North End (away), as the next yellow card amnesty comes after the 37th match of the season.
Wouter Burger has eight bookings and will have to be cautious, while Ben Pearson has already reached the ten-mark, served a two-match ban, and received his eleventh. If he accumulates 15 yellow cards before the end of the season, he will face a three-game suspension.
Daniel Iversen (dead leg) and Luke McNally (thigh) hope to return to contention this week after being ruled out with late decisions over the weekend.
Steven Schumacher explained: “We had an idea about Daniel because he was struggling (on Friday) in training, so Jack (Bonham) knew he was going to play.” Luke McNally underwent a fitness test (on Saturday) morning because he was sore in his thigh at the end of his training session the day before. He went in this morning to see the physio, and I received a call saying he wouldn’t be accessible. So we lose those two, but that is what happens in football; you simply have to adapt.”
Four other players had dropped to the bench after the mid-week win over QPR – Burger, Junior Tchamadeu, Niall Ennis and Bae Junho. All were used as substitutes in the 1-0 defeat to Coventry.
Schumacher added: “I wanted to make a few changes anyway because Niall Ennis playing three games in a week is a risk having not played loads of football, Junior the same. Then and Junho and Wouter have played nearly every minute for us. They are only young lads who have not played in this country before, and Wouter came off in the last game on Wednesday with tight hamstrings.
“Sometimes you’ve got to look at the evidence that’s in front of you and decide that maybe need to keep people a blow every now and again and that’s what you’ve got a squad for. I thought the starting players did well in general as well.”
Stoke’s large squad means that senior players were left out, as was Ryan Mmaee, who is not being considered for inclusion due to disciplinary issues. Mmaee, the 26-year-old summer signing who has three goals in 20 Championship games, is still training with the under-21s, hoping to re-establish his trust with staff and teammates.
Andre Vidigal, Tyrese Campbell, Sead Haksabanovic, and Daniel Johnson were left out of the selection process, as were unregistered trio Scott Morris, Blondy Nna Noukeu, and Liam McCarron. Schumacher has stated that there will be “tough calls” to make over who makes the matchday 20 team, and that his roster will be based on training and match performance.
The head coach stated why he left out Mehdi Leris against Blackburn: “The team is currently fine, therefore we must make difficult selections. It was difficult to leave Mehdi out because we know what he gives us: 100% commitment all the time. I just felt like we needed a different style for that game, and it was terrible that he missed out. Others will skip out next weekend. These are the tough decisions you must make. You don’t always get those calls right.
Tommy Simkin, an England youth keeper, is training with Stoke following a change of manager after joining Forest Green Rovers. Steve Cotterill took over for Troy Deeney in their fight to avoid relegation to the National League.
Stoke City Squad
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