Barnsley boss makes “amongst the best in the league” claim on Stoke City ahead of Championship clash

Barnsley manager Poya Asbaghi believes tomorrow evening’s opponents Stoke City have some of the most skilful players in the league at their disposal, making this assessment of the Potters to the Tykes’ media team ahead of the two sides’ meeting.

The 36-year-old makes this claim despite the Staffordshire outfit failing to win any of their previous five fixtures, winning just two points from a possible 15 which has dragged them back into the mid-table mediocrity they have endured over the past few years.

Michael O’Neill’s men looked to have a much more positive season after enduring a productive summer window, managing to offload many of their players who were deemed surplus to requirements at the bet365 Stadium.

In return, they recruited some decent-quality players to replace them and they continued along this theme in January when they were able to snap up Phil Jagielka and Lewis Baker, two players who look set to be key for them in the coming months.

Currently sitting 11 points adrift of the play-off zone at this stage, anything other than a win will only go on to damage their top-six prospects further with a finish in the promotion mix already looking unlikely at this stage.

But Asbaghi has sent a clear warning to his players on the calibre of players they will be facing at Oakwell this midweek.

Speaking about O’Neill’s side ahead of kick-off, he said: “It’s one of those teams that everyone was expecting to be amongst the top teams fighting for a Premier League spot, but that just shows how difficult the Championship is.

“There are a lot of good teams and you can never take for granted, and even if Stoke haven’t performed like they’d want, they’re still a team filled with talent and a lot of individual skill that is