A perfect week for the Potters has propelled them into the playoff mix after three straight victories.
Following their defeat at runaway leaders Leicester City, Stoke have taken maximum points from games against Sunderland, Leeds United and Middlesbrough.
Do Alex Neil’s side finally have what it takes to make their first real challenge at the top end of the Championship since relegation?
A Manager With Previous Promotions
Alex Neil already has two promotions on his CV, both via the playoffs. After taking over at Norwich City in early 2015, he helped mastermind a run of 17 wins from 25 games, guiding the Canaries to a third-place finish. After a derby victory over Ipswich Town in the semi-finals, City defeated Middlesbrough two-nil in the final to return to the top flight.
Seven years later, he helped steer Sunderland back to the Championship after taking over in February. The Black Cats overcame Wycombe Wanderers by the same scoreline as Neil’s previous success, to help finally send Sunderland back into the second tier.
Also, the former Barnsley man had almost four years in charge of Preston North End. This gave him vital Championship managerial experience, although he didn’t end up taking the Lilywhites to promotion.
Having been handed the Stoke City job over a year ago, Neil will be hoping to push on with the Potters this term and turn them into a side capable of promotion.
An Upturn In Recent Form
It couldn’t have been a better seven days for the Staffordshire outfit. The first of their three wins came against Alex Neil’s former side who were in the top six. Given the result moved the Potters up to twentieth place, it was a definite shock.
But the midweek success over Leeds was even more of a surprise given the Whites occupy third spot in the league. It’s fair to say that they needed more than a helping hand to overcome the Yorkshire outfit, with Patrick Bamford skying a penalty and Pascal Struijk putting the ball into his own net to hand Stoke the spoils.
Similarly, Middlesbrough came into their encounter with Stoke in red-hot form, winning six in a row. But now the Potters had two wins under their belts and the wind was firmly behind them for their trip to the North-East. The damage was done early this time, with Michael Rose and Mehdi Leris netting inside the opening 40 minutes to seal the points.
Competitiveness Of The Championship
This could be used to argue the opposite, that Stoke won’t finish in the top six this season but only a handful of sides have spent more consecutive seasons in the Championship than the Potters since their relegation from the Premier League in 2018. Their squad have a decent blend of players with experience at this level, along with some fresh young talent.
As proved by their recent three wins, the Potters can definitely mix it with the best that the division has to offer. With most years, the bulk of the Championship is packed tightly together. But with the top two already at least nine points clear, and the bottom three all more than five points adrift, it is as compact as ever. Millwall in seventeenth and Leeds in third are separated by just eight points, meaning that a week can change the whole complexity of the table.
November begins with a home game against another in-form side in Cardiff City. Two away games against sides currently out of shape in Coventry City and Queens Park Rangers are sandwiched between Blackburn Rovers making the trip to Stoke-on-Trent.
If they are to make an assault on the top six, they need to continue to grind out results. In a division like the Championship, who could argue against that?
