Stoke City team news vs Portsmouth as new signing makes surprise start
Josh Wilson-Esbrand comes straight into the Stoke City starting XI for a Championship clash away at Portsmouth (7.45pm).
The 22-year-old left-back played in the Football League Trophy for Manchester City under-21s against Lincoln in November but this is his first league appearance since last April, when he was on loan at Cardiff. He has become Mark Robins' first signing as Stoke boss, having previously had him on loan at Coventry - and the deal was done and signed off in time for him to be involved tonight.
He replaces Enda Stevens, with the Irishman having just started back-to-back games after not previously doing so since November due to a calf injury.
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Niall Ennis comes into the team in place of Nathan Lowe, with Lowe and Stevens both taking a place on the bench.
Robins is without eight senior players due to injury - Sam Gallagher, Million Manhoef, Eric Bocat, Ben Gibson, Lynden Gooch, Sol Sidibe, Jordan Thompson and Ben Pearson, who came through 45 minutes for the under-21s last night as he steps up his comeback.
Robins said yesterday: “(Portsmouth) have done really well at home. Away from home they’ve been a little bit up and down but performances have been good and they’ve got some good players, good, honest players, and they’ve done well on the back of a promotion. It’s a tough division and this year things are a bit tighter than they’ve been in previous seasons and nobody’s cut adrift.
“Usually what tends to happen is that teams at the bottom start to pick up points and they did that on Saturday. I think that’s something that generally always happens. They’ll be in a positive and confident mood. They’ve had some good results at home recently and they’ll be looking forward to the game as much as we are.”
Stoke: Johansson, Tchamadeu, Wilson-Esbrand, Phillips, Wilmot, Seko, Baker, Burger, Moran, Koumas, Ennis.
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