THE OPPOSITION
Stoke City head to Griffin Park on Saturday winless since April, and with the pressure mounting on boss Nathan Jones. Last Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Bristol City leaves The Potters bottom of the table with one point from their opening seven league matches.
Stoke's only point this season came from a 2-2 draw at home to Derby County while three of the six defeats have come by a single goal. Losing lynchpin Ryan Shawcross on the eve of the season was a massive blow; The Potters currently have the worst defensive record in the second tier, conceding 17 goals in their seven league matches. The EFL Cup has provided some solace with victories over Wigan Athletic and Leeds United setting up a Third Round tie at Crawley Town on Tuesday night.
The Potters did their business early during the transfer window, announcing six new faces in 24 hours at the end of June. Among those to join were the Barnsley duo of Adam Davies and Liam Lindsay, Millwall's Lee Gregory, and Nick Powell from Wigan Athletic. Further loan re-inforcements arrived ahead of Deadline Day in the shape of former Bee Scott Hogan, Sheffield United's Mark Duffy, and Cameron Carter-Vickers from Tottenham Hotspur.
Jones is clearly still searching for his favoured XI with The Potters using a league high 26 players in just seven games this term.
THE MANAGER
Nathan Jones endured a nomadic start to his playing career, first in his native Wales, then with Luton Town and finally in Spain before he found a home at Brighton and Hove Albion. The midfielder spent five years on the south coast at the start of the 2000s, making more than 150 appearances as The Seagulls went from Division Three to The Championship. He then spent seven years with Yeovil Town before retiring in 2012 after making more than 550 professional appearances.
His first steps into coaching came within the youth setup at Charlton Athletic before jumping to a First Team role at Brighton & Hove Albion. It wasn't however until he returned in January 2016 to Luton that he began to make a real impression. He won 11 of his first 21 games to ensure The Hatters' EFL survival before leading them to the Play-Offs the following campaign. He went one better in 2017/18 and had Luton second in League One when he left for Stoke in January of this year.
TEAM NEWS
Aside from the duo of Luka Racic and Mads Bech Sorensen, Thomas Frank has a full squad to pick from for tomorrow's fixture.
Life is more complicated for Nathan Jones with Ryan Shawcross out and Joe Allen suspended. Nick Powell hasn't been seen since the opening day defeat at QPR but is getting closer according to Jones.
THOMAS' PRE-MATCH PRESS
PRE-MATCH FEATURES
🆚 Hot off the Press: Martin Spinks of Stoke-On-Trent Live disects Stoke's start to the campaign
⚖ Ref Watch: Andy Woolmer will be the weekend's referee
LAST MEETING
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HOW TO FOLLOW
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