Lessons from Stoke City's best and worst pre-seasons with defeats, big exits and late signings

Stoke City are one game away from completing their pre-season programme following a hat-trick of friendlies against League One opposition.

Michael O'Neill's side have returned from a training camp in Cork, wrapped up with a 2-0 win over Cork City, to lose 2-0 at Accrington Stanley, draw 1-1 with Fleetwood Town and lose 2-0 at Bristol Rovers. It's Hearts up next on Saturday before the real thing starts a week later at Millwall. It is only natural, perhaps, that there is a little bit of panic.

There are still 10 days to go, still time to add reinforcements and quality - and still a month beyond until the transfer window shuts.

There is always anxiety or excitement heading into a new campaign built up or emphasised because of performances or results - and over the years it has sometimes been justified. We have looked back at how Stoke went on in five summers in the past 40 years before particularly landmark seasons.

A seemingly run-of-the-mill summer Stoke City story in the Sentinel of June 1983 is particularly ominous in hindsight.

Stoke had just narrowly missed out on a place in the UEFA Cup, playing some sparking football with a midfield of Mickey Thomas, Mark Chamberlain, Sammy McIlroy and Paul Bracewell, and hopes were high about the future. Sure, Bracewell had jumped ship for Sunderland and defensive lynch-pin Dave Watson was going for a swan-song in the United States, but manager Richie Barker had a plan.

He had replacements lined up that he was hoping to seal before a five-match tour of Sweden and he had even been on an innovative coaching course at Lilleshall. Yes, that coaching course at Lilleshall, run by controversial number-crunching FA coach Charles Hughes.

“Statistics from the course,” wrote the Sentinel,