Stoke City must step up to rid themselves of bad habit

Stoke City were left rueing chances to win a game they ended up losing at Huddersfield Town. Here are the talking points from the John Smith's Stadium and ahead of back-to-back home games against Middlesbrough and Sunderland.

Stoke have had an unwelcome knack of finding themselves on the wrong side of fine margins. It was a theme through last season, when there was a stream of defeats by one goal, and two matches in five days this time around have had a familiar feel.

It would have surely been a win over Morecambe if Dwight Gayle's goal had stood instead of a dodgy offside call. It would have been 2-1 and a big step to three points if an errant flag had stayed down for Gayle at Huddersfield.

It is bad luck but Stoke have to be good enough to find a way to win anyway and find the ruthlessness in both boxes that you need to have in the Championship.

Stoke have now conceded from three corners in the league this season and it's pretty obvious they can't afford to let that continue. In a division when it's so often about fine margins, soft touches at set pieces will be punished.

It is a young Stoke defence. Joe Bursik is 22, Connor Taylor is 20, Tom Sparrow is 19, Ben Wilmot is 22 and Josh Tymon is 23. It will be something like magic if they can go through a season without making mistakes but they have the shirts, this is a great opportunity and they have to grow up fast.

The good thing is that they are all players who will throw everything at it.

The injury to Harry Clarke highlights the vulnerability for Stoke at right wing-back. It is a big ask for Sparrow to step up to the Championship in a role he is still learning. He will guarantee hard work and he's a good footballer but it is no surprise that Stoke will look at