Stoke City predicted starting XI vs Hull as Mark Robins weighs up five new options
Mark Robins could potentially have four or five new options to consider as he takes his Stoke City squad to Hull in the Championship this weekend.
Robins has been beset by injury problems since his appointment on New Year's Day, with senior men or key figures ruled out as he tries to find a winning formula. Captain Ben Gibson is yet to feature under the new boss but has been stepping up training this week while Ben Pearson is hoping to have put himself in the first team picture for the first time in 10 months after coming through two appearances for the under-21s. Bosun Lawal is also edging towards contention for the first time since his summer move from Celtic and a medical which diagnosed a stress fracture in his lower back that demanded time out.
Sam Gallagher limped out of Robins' first game, Ben Wilmot was helped off towards the end of a defeat at Portsmouth last week, Sol Sidibe has been sidelined with a back problem and Million Manhoef, Eric Bocat and Jordan Thompson are yet to be involved under Robins due to knee, calf and groin injuries respectively.
READ MORE: Stoke City forgotten striker working towards summer transfer
READ MORE: Guardiola, Foden and relegation worries – Stoke City’s new signing opens up on transfer
Ali Al-Hamadi, however, is on standby for his debut after joining from Ipswich Town late last Friday evening and Emre Tezgel scored a hat-trick for the 21s in a 5-1 win at Reading that must have impressed his boss. Andre Vidigal scored twice too for what it's worth, including a peach of a first from the edge of the box.
Gibson, Pearson, Lawal, Al-Hamadi and Tezgel are unlikely to all be thrown in at Hull (Saturday, 3pm) but it will be interesting to see how many Robins might be tempted to introduce, bearing in mind that all will still need game time to get up to full speed, either through injury or the amount they have played this season.
There will be a moment to recall Bae Junho too, hopefully, after he was taken out in recent weeks. His draining schedule through 2023 and 2024, plus a nasty tooth infection, seemed to catch up with him heading into the winter but Robins was pleased that he was involved more after coming off the bench last time out against Oxford.
Lynden Gooch was used on the left wing in that match and was busy in the first half while Lewis Koumas linked up with Junior Tchamadeu on the right even if he couldn't quite affect the game as much as he would like - and the manager might try to use him more centrally in the long run.
Robins will try to find a midfield balance, having used Lewis Baker, Wouter Burger and Andrew Moran against Oxford, with Tatsuki Seko named as sub. All would probably benefit from playing next to an in-form Pearson but Stoke will have to weigh up how quickly he can play a key role after so long out.
Predicted Stoke starting XI vs Hull: Johansson, Tchamadeu, Stevens, Phillips, Rose, Pearson, Burger, Koumas, Junho, Lowe, Al-Hamadi
While you're here, we have launched a new WhatsApp group to deliver the latest Stoke news directly to your phone. Click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in. If for some reason you decide you no longer want to be in our community, you can leave at any time by clicking on the name at the top of your screen and clicking 'Exit Group', simple as that.
