Michael O’Neill offers verdict on key Stoke City duo ahead of the summer

Stoke City boss Michael O’Neill has said Jacob Brown is improving all the time and backed him to continue to progress moving forwards.

Brown joined Stoke City from Barnsley in 2020 and scored five goals in his first Championship campaign at the Bet 365 Stadium.

This season, however, he made huge progress and this showed in his numbers, scoring 14 goals and assisting five.

“Jacob was very raw when we bought him. We didn’t have a lot of money to spend in terms of what you’d pay for a striker but Jacob is a sponge and he’s getting better all the time.” O’Neill told StokeonTrentLive.

“His finishing is constantly getting better and he’s worked very hard on all parts of his game training wise.”

“We’ve got a player who’s come to the game late and he’s making up for lost time.”

“Hopefully we can continue to see that rate of progression because he’s been a real asset for us and defenders don’t like playing against him.”

O’Neill, too, suggested that Brown can continue to develop and improve further, pointing to the areas of the 24-year-old’s game that still need a bit of work.

“I do think so.” O’Neill replied when asked if Brown can continue improving.

“I think the things that Jacob has to improve on are obviously continuing to work on the technical side of the game and also maybe a little bit more about his game understanding.”

“But his natural attributes are high. His ability to work and run and he’s good in the air. He’s quick and he’s also got the ability to run quick a lot. He doesn’t tire easily. He’s got speed repeatability which you need for a striker.”

“A lot of people would give their right arm to have what he has naturally. We just have to continue to work on him technically and make him a better finisher, improve his