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Stoke City team news vs Preston North End as Narcis Pelach makes four changes
Narcis Pelach has changed both full-backs and also brought back Andrew Moran and Wouter Burger as Stoke City take on Preston North End (7.45pm).
Junior Tchamadeu returns at right-back and Enda Stevens is on the left in place of Ben Wilmot and Eric Bocat respectively. Sol Sidibe and Lewis Koumas drop out from Saturday's 1-1 draw with QPR as Moran and Burger come back from illness and suspension respectively.
It looks like a 4-2-3-1 system for Pelach, with Moran pushing forward to link up with Tom Cannon, who got his first real taste of senior football during a productive loan spell at Preston in 2023.
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Pelach said in his pre-match press conference: "I'm a coach who likes to give starts to players on for their merits. It's something that is important for me. It doesn't mean that your strongest XI must play every game. I don't think that's healthy for the squad and in the long-term I don't think it brings you very far.
"It's about the team, everyone pushing each other, it's about being fair and there are players that grow. Maybe your strongest XI is this, but in the next two months it's players who are growing and growing and then they're pushing to be starters. I will do that change, then, because I don't like or love one player more than another.
"I am open minded and I am ready to change, because the only thing that matters is Stoke City. Work is the only way to get more points. I have an idea, yes (about Stoke's strongest XI), but it's open everyday depending on performances, depending on opponents and depending on how you train as well."
Stoke: Johansson, Tchamadeu, Stevens, Phillips, Gibson, Seko, Burger, Moran, Manhoef, Junho, Cannon. Subs: Bonham, Wilmot, Rose, Bocat, Sidibe, Vidigal, Tezgel, Koumas, Ennis
Preston: Woodman, Storey, Whatmough, Hughes, Potts, Whiteman, Thordarson, Kesler-Hayden, Holmes, Greenwood, Osmajic. Subs: Cornell, Best, Pasiek, Ledson, Bowler, Okkels, Stewart, Riis, Keane..
