Marcus Braddock looks ahead to the Emirates FA Cup trip to Stoke
You wouldn't think that much would have changed in the week and a bit since Town played Stoke City in the Emirates F.A. Cup. However, it seems that our draw was the last straw for manager Gary Rowett who was replaced with Nathan Jones. Since taking over, Jones has only been involved in one game for the Potters and that was the 3-1 away defeat to Brentford at the weekend. Their home form this season has been a little patchy with six wins and four defeats from thirteen games and their last home win was their 1-0 win against Millwall on December 22nd.
Form (most recent result first.)
LLDLW
Top Scorers
Benek Afobe 7
Tom Ince 6
Joe Allen 5
Assists
James McClean 5
Joe Allen 4
Sam Clucas 3
Clean Sheets
Six at home and four away.
Stats
Stoke have gained an average of 1.62 points per home game this season which is 0.04 better than the league average.
They've been defeated in 31% of their home games and won 46%.
Their strongest attacking period of the game is the middle 15 minutes of the second half, during which they've scored four goals this season.
The best periods for the Stoke defence ere the first fifteen minutes of the game, during which they've conceded just once all season.
Referee - Scott Duncan
Assistant Referee 1 - Sam Lewis
Assistant Referee 2 - James Mainwaring
Fourth Official - Tom Reeves
Squad News
Stoke Boss Nathan Jones is likely to name a changed eleven from the weekend. Town have no new injury worries.
Summary
This is our second cup-tie in Stoke in a week but will it be another defeat or can Sam Ricketts team spring another surprise after holding the Championship team just over a week ago? Ricketts has said his team will be giving it everything but Potters boss Nathan Jones is using the game as an opportunity to evaluate his squad, so maybe we can earn a 4th round place at home to Wolves whilst he's distracted? Our away form doesn't suggest that we're likely to win but the F.A. Cup is a real leveller and we've done pretty well against Championship clubs over the last few seasons.
COYB!!!