Southampton's Will Smallbone explains his Stoke City transfer after Sunderland and Burnley links

Will Smallbone has said that he is "buzzing" to be at Stoke City after joining the Championship club on loan from Southampton.

The 22-year-old has joined the Potters on a season-long loan from Saints, with Smallbone looking to get regular first-team football after making 20 appearances for Southampton in recent seasons, making his debut in January 2020 in an FA Cup third round tie with Huddersfield Town, a game in which he scored.

He has been hampered by injury problems over the past 18 months, with Smallbone sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury in January 2021 at Leicester City, which ruled him out for several months. But he came back last season to make seven appearances for Saints in all competitions, while he has enjoyed a fine summer both for Republic of Ireland at U21 level and in pre-season with Southampton during the training camp in Austria.

But now, he has made the move to join Stoke, with Smallbone making his bow for the Potters yesterday (Saturday) as he came off the bench to feature in a pre-season friendly defeat against Scottish side Hearts. And the midfielder is hoping to make his mark with Michael O'Neill's side as he opened up on the move and the reasons for his decision.

Speaking for the first time since his move was confirmed, the midfielder said: "I'm buzzing to be here. From the moment that I found out that Stoke were interested, knowing Gavin [Kilkenny] and John [O'Shea] who are here and speaking to them about the club, they've had nothing but good things to say. Once I knew there was serious interest, I was looking forward to coming.

"It is Stoke. It is a massive club and you think of it as a Premier League club that's unfortunately dropped back into the Championship. The big club