Stoke City begin their Championship season in just over a week against Millwall. Michael O’Neill’s side will be looking for a fast start in a bid to blow off the cobwebs of last season and fuel belief that there might be a sustained push for the top-six coming.
Nevertheless, it’s a tough start against a Millwall side that have been busy and efficient in the transfer window so far. What about Stoke, then?
How is their own squad shaping up ahead of the season opener? As our graphic above shows, there are a number of new signings that you’d expect to be starting against Millwall, whilst injuries are already niggling away at O’Neill’s squad.
Starting with the system, we can probably expect to see something of a 5-3-2 to begin with. Joe Bursik is likely to be in goal, whilst of the available defenders, you can see Phil Jagielka, Aden Flint and Ben Wilmot at centre-back, with Josh Tymon and Harry Clarke as wing-backs.