Stoke City predicted team vs Portsmouth as Mark Robins weighs up recall
Mark Robins hasn't been making many changes to his Stoke City starting XI, partly through circumstance, as he weighs up how to handle his first three-game week at the club.
Nathan Lowe was sent straight into the team for a draw with West Bromwich Albion at the weekend, after Tom Cannon had been recalled by Leicester, in the only change from an FA Cup win at Sunderland a week previously.
But a tight squad will be tested as Stoke now move on to an away clash with Portsmouth (Wednesday, 7.45pm) and home game against Oxford United (Saturday, 12.30pm).
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It doesn't help that Stoke are without senior players including Sam Gallagher, Million Manhoef, Eric Bocat and Ben Pearson while updates are awaited on Ben Gibson and Lynden Gooch. Sol Sidibe is also out with a back injury. Bosun Lawal and Pearson are both expected to play for the under-21s today at Rochdale.
Robins could bring Bae Junho back into the team after praising his contribution from the bench at the Hawthorns. Andrew Moran has deputised on the right wing in the last couple of matches as Lewis Koumas seems to have enjoyed his chance to play on the left.
Enda Stevens is on standby to start back-to-back games against a club where he won the League Two title in 2017. The 34-year-old is a hugely influential figure in the Stoke squad but hasn't been able to play enough minutes due to injuries.
It is a big game for both clubs. separated by just two points with Stoke in 18th and Portsmouth in 22nd in a squeezed bottom half. Stoke are also four points behind Oxford.
Robins said on Saturday: "My biggest thing is that the players have been brilliant. They are working their socks off and giving everything. I've said to them that it's fine, nobody gets everything right with the press and we didn't get it right at times but for the most part they are having a right go and that's the prerequisite. That's the minimum but not every team does that and not every player wants to do that but these have got together and they can do it. On the back of that they will start to get results, start to get confidence and don't look back. We're trying to catch the teams above us.
"It's a chance to do that this week. A three-game week is normally a moving week and we've got to back this up on Wednesday at Portsmouth. It's a really tough place to go, then we've got a home game against Oxford who are winning games under Gary Rowett.
"We've got to be ready and the energy we're going to need is going to be interesting."
Stoke predicted starting XI v Portsmouth: Johansson, Tchamadeu, Stevens, Wilmot, Phillips, Seko, Burger, Baker, Moran, Koumas, Lowe.
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