Stoke City

Boss Mark Robins spoke to BBC Radio Stoke following his side's 2-0 Championship defeat by Wrexham.

"In general we weren't in any danger, we looked like we were okay from back to front but we make the wrong decision, either the wrong touch or we try to take people on.

"The supporters are frustrated, I'm frustrated and there's plenty of work for us to do in the summer.

"Two moments in a game from a corner and some inexplicable circumstances is the disappointment of today but that was coming because we didn't win tackles or duels and the ball was turned over too many times."

"It was a really poor performance in terms of chances created and trying to take them, plus the two goals we gave away were just hideous."

Stoke are 17th in the table and at home to second-placed Millwall on Tuesday evening.

Image source, Opta

Stoke City will hope to officially confirm their status as a Championship club for another season when they visit Wrexham on Saturday (kick-off 15:00 BST).

The Potters are 11 points clear of the relegation zone with four games to play and need a win to guarantee survival - or for either Blackburn to lose or Oxford to fail to win.

The Red Dragons are looking for a victory to keep them in the hunt for a play-off place as they start the weekend four points behind sixth-placed Hull City.

• Wrexham have lost 12 of their 13 league games against Stoke, with a 3-1 away win in February 1999 the only exception.

• Stoke have won all six of their away league games against Wrexham, with this their first visit since November 2001. It's the joint-best 100% away win rate one side has against another in English Football League history (Northampton also 6/6 at Dagenham & Redbridge).

• Wrexham have lost their past two league games, and could lose three in a row for the first time since February 2024 when they were in League Two.

• Stoke are on a five-game losing run away from home in the Championship, and have not lost six consecutive away league games since between January and March 2013, when they were in the Premier League.

• Josh Windass has netted 12 league goals for Wrexham this season, just one shy of equalling his most in a single Championship campaign (13 in 44 games for Sheffield Wednesday in 2024-25).

"Everyone's got one eye on next season now but we're still using these last few games to go: right let's test a few people, see what we can find out.

"The season's had that many ups and downs, it's really difficult to judge the team. It could be worse but they were in such a good position going into November, it does still feel a little bit like a missed opportunity."

This week on A Cold Wet Tuesday Night, Lucas Yeomans and Gareth Owen assess Stoke City's season following the 1-1 home draw with Blackburn Rovers and look to the future, before discussing the quality of the defence and how the squad might look next season.

Listen to more episodes of A Cold Wet Tuesday Night on BBC Sounds.

Mark Elliott
BBC Radio Stoke commentator

Image source, Shutterstock

Everything about this game screamed April.

The wind blew a gale while the sun shone and the rain poured and a huge rainbow wrapped around the stadium.

Amongst all of that Stoke played a game that felt meaningless but did shine a light on how much there is to address this summer.

Of the team that started, Gavin Bazunu, Ashley Phillips and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi are on loan, Lewis Baker is out of contract in the summer and Ben Gibson, Ben Pearson, Million Manhoef and Sam Gallagher are about to enter the final year of theirs.

The same can be said of first team regulars Victor Johansson, Junior Tchamadeu, Tatsuki Seko, Bae Junho and, assuming the club trigger an additional year built into his agreement, Ben Wilmot.

Veterans Aaron Cresswell and Steven Nzonzi see their contracts end this summer too, bringing the total number of first team players who are tied to the club for 15 months or less to 15.

If the club can't tie Johansson and Tchamadeu down to longer deals, they may have to sell them despite not wanting to.

Decisions on the other players are more nuanced and complicated but Stoke would surely want a fee for players like Junho and Manhoef while they still retain value if either side in each case favours a parting of the ways.

It looks like a full rebuild could be on the way once you consider that recent signings Maksym Talovierov, Tomas Rigo, Lamine Cisse, Robert Bozenik and Milan Smit who make up the bulk of the group tied to the club long term are all yet to convince manager Mark Robins of their ability to start and contribute consistently.

Sorba Thomas and Bosun Lawal are probably the only two obviously key players signed until 2028.

There is an opportunity within all this to add what Stoke have lacked this season. A clearer identity, attacking threat and greater physicality.

Progress has been made this season with the current squad but it may be a very different group of players tasked with taking the club to the next level.

Image source, Getty Images

Stoke City manager Mark Robins told BBC Radio Stoke: "We started off not great because the conditions were really difficult.

"I said before we had to be patient. Michael O'Neill was going to come and make sure Blackburn push every button they possibly can to make sure we frustrate the crowd because we don't move the ball enough.

"We want to try and be brave. There are positional things that happen that don't feel comfortable, but you have to be uncomfortable at times.

"First half, we didn't do enough, so we gave them some impetus. Their goal, we didn't get the press right at all, you've got to win your duels. Those are the non-negotiables.

"What I was pleased about was we kept playing and we got the equaliser. I thought we were well worthy of it and were the only team trying to win it."

Stoke City's players need to learn how to accept criticism if they are to be successful, according to head coach Mark Robins.

The Potters were fourth in the Championship table at the start of December, just three points off the automatic promotion places, but they have won only six of their subsequent 23 games to slip to 13th place, 12 points adrift of the top six.

"It's been a season of great promise to start with and then real disappointment," Robins told BBC Radio Stoke.

"Everybody talks about that position we're in, being mid-table obscurity, and no-one wants that. The emotions in mid-table are totally different, so we need to be at the top end of the division.

"I don't want to be at the bottom end of the division and we're not, but that's scant consolation for the promise the season showed at the start. So the disappointment is there and it's tangible for everybody."

Stoke were beaten 2-0 at Derby County on Monday, and Robins is hoping his players can react the right way to the criticism which followed that performance when they host Blackburn Rovers on Saturday (15:00 BST).

"We speak about ego, where if you get criticism nowadays it's difficult for people to take on board, but like I said at the end of the game, 'Suck it up'. Understand what is going on, understand what your part of the bargain is, and deliver. That's our job.

"It gives me a lot of information of how people cope in certain situations. When everything is going great everyone is alright, but people react in different ways under pressure, and it's something people need to learn to deal with - we've got five games left and I want to win all five of them."

Listen to more Stoke City content and interviews on BBC Sounds.

Image source, Getty Images

The EFL has announced the fixtures for the 2026-27 season will be published at midday on Thursday, 25 June.

The first-round draws for the Carabao Cup and the Vertu Trophy will be made on the same day.

The new season will kick off on the weekend of August 7-9 with the first round of the Carabao Cup, and the opening fixtures in the Championship, League One and League Two will follow a week later on 14-16 August.

The first round of the Vertu Trophy will be played in the week commencing 21 September.

Image source, Opta

Blackburn Rovers will look to pull further clear of the Championship relegation places when the visit Stoke City on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 15:00 BST).

Michael O'Neill's side were just one point above the drop zone after a 1-0 defeat to relegation rivals Oxford on 11 March but are unbeaten in the four games since (W2 D2) and are now six points ahead of Leicester in 22nd.

The Potters - who are 12 points behind the play-off spots and 13 clear of the drop - are on course for a mid-table finish.

• None of Stoke's previous 15 home league games against Blackburn have finished level, with the Potters winning nine and losing six.

• Blackburn have alternated between victory (3) and defeat (3) in their past six away league games against Stoke, losing 1-0 in this exact fixture last season.

• Stoke have won their past two home league games – the Potters haven't won three on the bounce at home since April/August 2024, while in the same season they last did so in August/September 2021 under current Blackburn boss Michael O'Neill.

• Blackburn Rovers have kept a clean sheet in their previous three league games, last going four without conceding in November/December 2024 (a run of five).

• Stoke City's Sorba Thomas is the only player with both 10 goals and 10 assists in the Championship this season. The last player to achieve that in a league season (excl. play-offs) under manager Mark Robins was current Arsenal striker Viktor Gyökeres in 2022-23 at Coventry (21 goals, 10 assists).

Mark Elliott
BBC Radio Stoke’s Stoke City commentator

Image source, Getty Images

Stoke were outmuscled at Derby in a way that highlighted the gap in physicality between the Potters and most of the teams chasing promotion.

Not every team in the Championship needs to be as direct as Derby but no team can afford to be as lightweight and lacking in power and athleticism as Stoke were.

It's not the first time over the past two seasons that Stoke have been bullied to defeat.

They put out a young team, particularly defensively and couldn't impose themselves physically at either end of the pitch.

After the game, the manager Mark Robins questioned his team's "fight", which suggests that he's ready to move on from some players this summer.

When they turn to the transfer market in a few weeks, adding power and physicality - particularly to the spine of the team - has to be a priority.

Stoke City manager Mark Robins spoke BBC Radio Stoke after Monday's 2-0 defeat at Derby County.

"How did I see the game? It was a nothing first half, but they had better chances than us," he said.

"On Good Friday it was a really good win. Then coming into this one as we come to the end of the season, I'm looking for more.

"And really, I'm left disappointed because we've certainly not done enough with the ball, but we have looked passive, which isn't us – it shouldn't be us and can't be us. And we left ourselves open to that defeat, and that is a concern.

"After a game where we've had to work hard, even against a Sheffield Wednesday side that has been struggling, we win the game and we have to bounce onto the next one, and we don't or can't do that.

"It is really difficult to win any game of football in any division, and the Championship is brutal, but you certainly have to match the opposition in terms of fight, and we haven't got that.

"We just haven't got that at this stage and the players who have got that just looked like they weren't at the level of Derby's players."

Image source, Getty Images

Stoke manager Mark Robins said his side lacked fluidity in attack and admitted it was a laborious performance in the 2-0 over Sheffield Wednesday.

Goals from Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Lamine Cisse secured victory at the Bet365 Stadium.

But Robins wasn't entirely satisfied with the manner of the result.

"We were nowhere near fluid throughout the game," Robins told BBC Radio Stoke.

"We were at times, but we looked laboured in movement and passing. We created good openings and should have had more chances on goal if we'd had been more awake.

"We got the game done, a clean sheet and 54 points, more than the entirety of last season. You talk about incremental improvement, that is there for everyone to see."

Robins added that expectation was high because Wednesday have already been relegated, and pointed out his squad has been stretched recently.

"It was hard. You're on a hiding to nothing because people expect you to win and score a avalanche of goals. That hasn't happened.

"They've got lots of good players. They've lost some and gained some. Sheffield Wednesday are young and they've been through the mill in the past few seasons.

"We've had eight players to work with whilst others are injured, coming back or on international duty. Logistically it is tough; to get the game won like that was pleasing."

Image source, Getty Images

Championship clubs spent just over £69.5m on agents fees over the past 12 months according to figures released by the Football Association,, external an increase of £6m on the previous year.

The figures cover the period from February 2025 with Ipswich Town the top spenders, paying £11.7m having spent the first three months of the accounting period in the Premier League.

Southampton (£8.3m) and Leicester (£5.8m), who were relegated alongside Ipswich are the second and third-highest payers on the list.

Troubled Sheffield Wednesday were the most frugal when dealing with agents, spending £534,559.

Wrexham come in sixth on the list with an outlay of £3.6m while current Championship leaders Coventry spent just short of £1.5m.

Championship agents' fee spending, external

• Ipswich - £11,738,920

• Southampton - £8,381,358

• Leicester City - £5,866,587

• Sheffield United - £5,005,498

• Norwich - £4,020,206

• Wrexham - £3,660,584

• Swansea - £3,088,645

• Middlesbrough - £2,900,314

• Bristol City - £2,774,990

• Hull City - £2,450,431

• Stoke City - £2,088,886

• Birmingham City - £1,996,502

• Millwall - £1,982,348

• Preston North End - £1,831,233

• QPR - £1,829,036

• Watford - £1,612,833

• Coventry - £1,497,990

• Derby - £1,409,507

• West Brom - £1,346,030

• Oxford - £1,235,536

• Charlton - £904,698

• Portsmouth - £831,818

• Blackburn - £676,980

• Sheffield Wednesday - £534,559

Image source, Getty Images

Stoke City striker Sorba Thomas scored his second senior international goal for Wales in a 1-1 home draw with Northern Ireland in a friendly on Tuesday night.

The 27-year-old poked home from close range to equalise less than a minute into the second half to cancel out Jamie Donley's 22nd-minute opener for the visitors.

Both nations were still reeling from their World Cup play-off semi-final defeats last Thursday against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Italy respectively, resulting in a relatively lacklustre encounter at Cardiff City Stadium.

Thomas has 25 international caps and his only previous goal for Wales came in World Cup qualifying in June 2025 in a 4-3 defeat by Belgium in Brussels.

He will now return to the Potters before they host already-relegated Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship on Saturday (15:00 BST).