Stoke City

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Stoke City head coach, Narcis Pelach is demanding even more from his top scorer, Tom Cannon.

The on-loan Leicester forward has scored eight goals in all competitions this season, seven of them in the Championship including four in one game against Portsmouth.

"He struggled for the first four weeks [when I came in] because I think it was a shock for him to see what our strategy is," Pelach told BBC Radio Stoke.

"He took a lot of things on board but there are still things I want him to do better and we had a conversation after the QPR match about how we can move him to the next level."

Cannon will line-up on Tuesday against Preston - a team he spent time on loan with in 2023, scoring eight goals in 19 league starts.

"My expectations with Tom are high - he scored eight goals with Preston but for me this number isn't going to be anything until it gets much higher than seven so let's see if we can get him to the next level because it will be good for him and the team."

Image source, BBC Sport

Stoke City have lost just one of their last nine games (W3 D5) following a 1-1 draw at QPR on Saturday and are six points off the play-off spots ahead of Tuesday night's clash with Preston North End.

The Lilywhites drew 1-1 at Derby at the weekend and are winless in their last six (D4 L2). Paul Heckingbottom's side are also yet to win away from home this season.

• Stoke City are looking to win consecutive league games against Preston for the first time since a run of four between 1992 and 1998.

• The away team has won the last five league matches between Stoke and Preston and are unbeaten in the last nine meetings between the sides (W7 D2).

• Stoke are unbeaten in their last six league games on home soil (W2 D3); the Potters last enjoyed a longer run in October 2021 (6 games – W5 D1).

• Preston are winless in their last 12 league games on the road (D4 L8), conceding exactly three goals in seven of their last 10 such games.

• Preston's Brad Potts has scored in two of his four visits to the bet365 Stadium in the EFL, netting in January 2019 and January 2022.

Stoke City boss Narcis Pelach said he was satisfied to take a point following his side's 1-1 draw at Queens Park Rangers.

The Potters are now unbeaten in their last four matches, picking up eight points out of a possible 12, and the Spaniard is happy with the progress which has seen his side jump up into the top half of the Championship table.

"I’m pleased with the point because I know how difficult it is to compete in every single game in the Championship," Pelach told BBC Radio Stoke.

"We went to play QPR away and it was about standing up and competing very well - we knew they were going to put pressure on us.

"They have a lot of need but I think we showed the same and this is something very important to me because I want my team to value every single moment, every single game, every single point, and I think we showed that togetherness.

"We take the point and we go into the next one."

Bae Jun-Ho thought he had scored the winning goal late on for the visitors but was adjudged to have handled the ball and Pelach remained tight-lipped on the incident after the match.

"I don't want to go into it because it teaches my players a culture I don't like," he added.

"I don't want to go into the excuses game, it is what it is."

Ahead of Saturday's trip to QPR the Stoke City head coach, Narcís Pèlach, has said he's ready to get back to Championship football.

The international break has meant that this weekend will be the first game in two weeks for some clubs.

In an interview with BBC Radio Stoke, Pèlach said he's looking forward to getting back to league action:

"It was good to be off and switch off a little bit, it was a good time for us to coach and review.

"It's been a very intensive week but I feel it's a good balance now. We've demanded more and more. I know the Championship and when Christmas comes it gets very busy, but we have to make sure we are healthy and full of energy for the things that are coming now"

Coverage of Stoke City away at QPR is on BBC Radio Stoke from 14:00 GMT

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Stoke City head coach Narcis Pelach wants to see Ben Wilmot continue to develop despite the defender having made more than 100 appearances for the club.

Normally a centre-back, Wilmot has found himself utilised as a right-back this season and Pelach has been impressed with how he has adapted.

"He's 25 now and it's a moment where he can explode and I don't imagine Stoke City without him," Pelach told BBC Radio Stoke.

Stoke head into Saturday's Championship match at QPR with just one defeat from their past eight league games.

"It's good to have players who can play different positions so now Ben has a feeling he can play right-back," Pelach added.

"Against Borja Sainz (Norwich) - the best winger in the league - he had no problem so after this he is ready to be a right-back in the Championship and I want him to be ambitious and make more steps."

Image source, BBC Sport

Bottom side QPR are on a run of 11 games without victory (D5 L6) and welcome a Stoke City team who have lost just one of their last eight (W3 D4) to Loftus Road on Saturday.

The Hoops have only won once so far this season and are five points adrift at the bottom, while the Potters are four points clear of the drop zone and six off the play-offs.

• QPR have won just two of their last six league games against Stoke City (D1 L3), failing to score in four of those matches.

• Stoke City have won just one of their last seven away league games against QPR (D4 L2), with both of their losses across that time coming via a 4-2 scoreline.

• QPR have spent just 5.2% of their Championship matches leading this season, 9% fewer than any other side (Plymouth second-fewest with 14.3%).

• Stoke City have lost just one of their last eight Championship matches (W3 D4), having lost five of their previous six games before this run.

• No player has more Championship assists this season than Stoke's Bae Jun-Ho (5), with three of those assists coming from corners, the joint most of any player along with Derby's Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.

Image source, Getty Images

Stoke City are back in training ready for Saturday's trip to QPR. Narcís Pèlach's side are looking to win back to back away league games for the first time this season.

Sporting Director Jon Walters has said the club is moving in the right direction and you've been letting us know how you feel about that:

Ann - Jonathan Walters knows the club the city and the supporters. He has been instrumental in changing the ethos at Stoke - which hasn’t been a positive one since relegation. He’s giving us back an identity.

Michael -John Walters is making big footballing decisions with no experience

Gary - The jury is still out! We need to get the ball forward quicker. Too many sideways backwards passes. Reminds me of Tony Mowbray when he was at WBA, 90% possession in his own half.

Mick - Not bad at the moment but we need to sign some of these loan players up permanently come January.

Dave - Super Jon was criticised when he sacked Steven Schumacher, but Narcís Pèlach is a much better coach and now the results are showing that. Walters helped bring in Victor Johansson, Tom Cannon, Andrew Moran and Lewis Koumas, all great signings that have got us excited.

Will - There have been so many "false dawns" over the last seven years so it is too early to judge. At least the current set up seems different to the "rinse and repeat" cycles we have seen with previous managerial appointments.

Andy - All sounds good hopefully going in the right direction only time will tell.

What do you think about the club's direction of travel? Let us know here., external

Stoke City's Sporting Director Jon Walters has been outlining his plans for the rest of the Championship season.

The former Potters forward returned to the club in February as interim Technical Director, but became full-time Sporting Director in April.

Speaking to BBC Radio Stoke, Walters said he's feeling positive about the direction in which the club is heading:

"Every player is loving it, the staff are loving it, in my eyes we are heading in the right direction.

"Things are developing in the right way, we've lost one in the last eight, we've ran more than anyone in every metric across the pitch."

How good a job do you think Jon Walters has done? Let us know here., external

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Stoke City technical director Jon Walters is helping head coach Narcis Pelach lead a top to bottom reset of the club to pave the way for future progress.

Walters has been in post since April, five months before Pelach arrived from Norwich City, and he told BBC Radio Stoke they are trying to change the mindset after six and half seasons in the Championship.

The former Stoke, Bolton and Ipswich forward said of his job: "Every day just rolls into the next, it's literally 24 hours, non-stop, it's the challenge of something new every day, you're firefighting for a lot of it, dealing with problems, that's the role, trying to bring people together.

"The club's not finished above a certain level for a number of years, you see now the head coach has that drive and that mindset and that push.

"I'm here with him first thing in the morning and normally we're still here at half eight, nine o'clock at night, me and him just having a chat, he doesn't want to leave before me and I'm saying the same to him, how can we improve every part of the club, what are we doing, how can he help Ryan and the 21s, (and) because my son's in the academy, I go and watch them train and help those coaches get what we're doing with the first team.

"It's (about) surrounding yourself with good people and trying to lead it, not micro-manage it."

Stoke will start work on a new training complex next week and are open to bringing in new faces in January if the right players are available.

"You're always looking to add quality, you're always looking to improve, but it's got to be the right person for Stoke, the right person that fits into what we're doing, fits into the mentality we're trying to create here," Walters added.

"To have that shift from where the club's been over the past number of years, that's a difficult thing to do, and players you bring in have to match that."

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Former Stoke City defender Mike Pejic believes the team is moving in the right direction under head coach Narcis Pelach.

The Potters are on a run of one defeat in their last eight league games, a sequence of results that has moved them to 13th in the Championship.

Speaking to BBC Radio Stoke, Pejic said the Catalan coach has got players playing in the right positions.

"You have to have the right people in the right roles and if you get that and the right blend and right type of player, you are going to get results."

Pejic added that Tom Cannon, Andrew Moran, Lewis Koumas and Wouter Burger all have an important part to play if Stoke are to continue moving forward:

"We've got players who can split defences and stretch them, plus wide players who can dribble and cross. They can all bring out different elements of the game in their attacking play.

"At the moment the players are carrying out those roles effectively and with high performance levels you will get results."

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It's been 57 days since Narcís Pèlach replaced Steven Schumacher as Stoke City head coach. The Catalan has won three, drawn four and lost four of his first 11 games in charge.

You've been telling us what you think about the job Pèlach is doing at the Bet365 Stadium:

Alan - I really feel we have started to turn a corner under the new Head Coach. There’s going to be bumps along the way but after eight years of stagnation most fans will settle for a gradual improvement. My biggest concern is that four of our most influential players, Cannon, Koumas, Phillips and Moran are owned by other clubs and will take a lot of replacing.

Chris - We are giving the ball away too easily at times particularly in midfield where Burger continues to be poor. Our set pieces are woeful especially corners currently being taken from the right. Yes, we have scored in two consecutive matches via left-side corners, but I still feel that we could get more from these situations. All in all an improvement.

Andrew - This team appears to be happy and united and going places, with a new spring in their step. After the dross of recent years, just a top half finish would cheer us all up no end.

Do you agree? Let us know here, external.

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There are six Stoke City players who have been called up for senior international duty this week:

• Andrew Moran and Tom Cannon for Republic of Ireland

• Viktor Johansson for Sweden

• Jordan Thompson for Northern Ireland

• Lewis Koumas for Wales

• Bae Junho for South Korea

You can keep up to date with how they are getting on using our scores and fixtures list as well as following Wales, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland's matches live on the BBC Sport website and Radio 5 Live.

Image source, Getty Images

Stoke City full-back Eric Bocat has said he's settled quickly into English football. The Frenchman joined the Potters in the summer and has made 10 Championship starts.

He told BBC Radio Stoke that life in the Potteries has gone as well as he had hoped.

"I enjoy being here every week with the coaching staff and the people who works that we don't see. I think everyone is great here, I enjoy every day."

Bocat has played under two head coaches since his switch from Belgium Pro League side, St. Truiden.

Signed by Steven Schumacher, Bocat has had to prove himself again and earn his place in the team again as Catalan coach Narcís Pèlach is currently splitting games between the 25-year-old and experienced defender Enda Stevens.

"It's a good competition between us a healthy competition because we are teammates at the end of the day and we are here to push each other."

Stoke have lost just once in their last eight matches and go into the international break having picked up seven points from their last nine, including wins against Derby County and Blackburn Rovers, and more recently a draw at home to Millwall.

The French defender believes spirits are high and his new team is starting to find some consistency.

"The team will have to play the top of the table and have to build momentum, this week was the perfect example, it's good for the confidence and good for the club and team."

What have you noticed that's different about Pèlach's Stoke City team? Let us know here., external

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Former Stoke City full-back Tommy Smith has backed the Potters to get it right and challenge for promotion eventually, despite his own underwhelming three-year stay with the club.

The 32-year-old moved to the Bet365 Stadium from Huddersfield Town to play under Nathan Jones in 2019 but neither he nor the Potters impressed under the Welshman, or successor Michael O’Neill, and Smith left the club on a free transfer, signing for Middlesbrough in 2022.

He told the BBC’s Football Daily 72+ EFL podcast it was "a shame" a succession of big-money signings had failed to shine since the Potters were relegated from the top flight after 10 years in 2018.

In the six seasons since, Stoke have finished between 14th and 17th in every campaign, lost 110 matches and won just four FA Cup ties in total.

Smith told 72+: “One thing that can’t be questioned is the chairman’s loyalty and commitment to the club. He’s put his hand in his pocket numerous times over the years because he’s desperate for his club to do well.

“It’s a shame, really. One thing I saw when I walked in was a club that was desperate and geared up for the Premier League.”

Smith played 106 games for City across his three seasons, scoring three goals, and added: “They were trying to find the recipe for it all to click – for whatever reason it just never did.

“I’m still of the belief that at some point Stoke will get it right and challenge for the play-offs. It’s a fantastic club but the three years I had there we finished 15th, 14th and 14th - by Stoke’s expectation that’s nowhere near where we should have been as a team.”

Narcis Pelach was appointed in September and the Potters currently lie 13th in the Championship

“They are in another transition now where they’ve got a new manager in and have gone down another route of signing players from overseas which is not really something Stoke have previously done," Smith added.

“They are desperate to find that identity in terms of who they are and what they are. For so many years they have been real resolute, tough to beat.”

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Narcis Pelach is a "football nut" who works harder than anyone to try and get his vision across, according to someone who has seen him in action.

The Catalan spent nearly three years coaching at Huddersfield Town, where David Fox, ex-Premier League player and son of former Potters keeper Peter, was working as a scout and loan manager.

Fox - who attended his first City game at the Victoria Ground aged just two weeks old - told BBC Radio Stoke: "I worked with him at Huddersfield for a couple of years. Narcis always wanted to be a manager - you could tell he had this end game of being a manager somewhere.

"He’s the hardest worker I have come across, in terms of the detail and commitment that goes into sessions.

"He’ll be judged like everyone else - the style’s great, how we play is great but he needs to win football matches. So far I think he has doing really well. He’s added a blend of a style and philosophy, he’s trying to bring a togetherness to the club between the fans and the players. If he can get that momentum building he’ll be very good."

Fox said the 36-year-old "lived and breathed football" and was influenced by his time working at Girona, part of the City Football Group.

"He tries to make the game as simple as possible. There are no grey areas when players go onto the pitch. When you watch a game now it seems like a lot of little robots running around, it is so tactically based now, the game," Fox added.

"It’s not just because he is young and Spanish, the game has changed, you have to be more detailed now - the background staff is that big you can go into minute detail. Narcis tries to make it really simple what he wants from his players."

It's been more than 50 days since Pelach was appointed to replace Steve Schumacher at the helm at the Bet365, winning three, drawing four and losing four of his 11 matches in charge.

"He's got to get the fans involved. We all think he’s going to play out from the back, but it’s not playing 100 passes at the back, that’s not what Stoke do, it's not launching it, it’s finding a way to play forward quickly and getting in position to score goals.

"You have to go out and entertain and get the fans involved. Hopefully with a couple of wins it buys him some time to do that."

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Narcís Pèlach has given his Stoke City squad time to rest and recuperate during the international break. The Potters head coach will be hoping it helps his players come back fit and firing for their next Championship fixture away at QPR in 11 days.

You've been giving us your thoughts on how Pèlach has settled into the role since replacing Steven Schumacher in September.

Steve - We now have a manager who gives a half-time talk and the team responds. The second half improves due to a change in tactics. I feel more confident with Pèlach in charge. He has a system and win, lose or draw we’ll go forward.

Ian - We seem to be enjoying playing football and our defence is improving, but the main thing is we are scoring goals.

Peter - I think the head coach is doing a great job and knows he needs to a bring in defender or two in January. A right-back and left-back.

Gordon - Decent results, but still struggle in retaining possession in the midfield and upfront which prevents building up any real momentum. It puts too much pressure on the defence when we give the ball away. No other team plays the way Stoke do.

Will - It is far too early to make judgements. All of Stoke's recent managers have had short successful spells lasting three or four matches. If Stoke are in the top ten early next year then it will be time to get optimistic.

Let us know your views here., external

Stoke City head into the latest international break with just one defeat from their past eight Championship matches.

The Potters have moved to within six points of the play-off places and resume action later this month with inviting-looking fixtures against struggling QPR and Preston North End.

In the latest episode of BBC Radio Stoke's 'A Cold Wet Tuesday Night' podcast, Lucas Yeomans and George Weaver (aka Potterlytics) discuss the recent run of promising form.