v Stoke City (a) - 10/3/23

[Sweaty Gussets]

This one has me worried! Stoke are starting to turn a corner as their recent results show. They are a dangerous side with some very good forwards.

 

 

Regardless, the players should go into this fully confident of a result. 

I'll go 1-1. Pickering to score with a Roberto Carlos style free kick from 30 yards. 

[ben_the_beast]

39 minutes ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

This one has me worried! Stoke are starting to turn a corner as their recent results show. They are a dangerous side with some very good forwards.

 

 

Regardless, the players should go into this fully confident of a result. 

I'll go 1-1. Pickering to score with a Roberto Carlos style free kick from 30 yards. 

I'm not sure Stokes form has me worried. They've beaten Huddersfield, Swansea and Sunderland and lost to Blackpool and Millwall in that time. In terms of the wins you couldn't wish for 3 kinder fixtures.

What does worry me is them being Stoke. I've not looked at our history against them, but my immediate memories of playing them is we never seem to perform well. I'm certain it's not going to be a pretty game. Alex Neill isn't a bad manager and I see them sitting deep with us struggling to carve out many opportunities. 

Prediction is 0-0.

If a team is to win it will be 1-0 and that could just as likely be them as it is us. 

Edited March 5, 2023 by ben_the_beast

[Mercer]

We are on fire and with confidence and adrenalin surging through the camp like an exocet missile this will be another win.  Rovers 3-1.

[Admiral Nelsen]

Im never confident playing Stoke for some reason, especially at their place. If we have aspirations of top 2 (I don't think we do, realistically) then 6 points from the next two games are probably needed to keep us in touch going into the quarter final.

 

For the top 6, four points will put us in a very strong position going into March, so I'd not be overly disappointed with an away point here so long as we back it up with beating Reading.

[alex l]

Not convinced our Sky live curse is fully lifted, a point will be decent, not least in the context of having won yesterday 

[Exiled_Rover]

How the hell does Pears have 7 clean sheets this season?!

[J*B]

Tough place to go to, especially after a big win against Sunderland. Would snatch your hand off with a draw. 

[Polky]

I’m looking forward to this one, another tough test on the road.

1-0 Gallagher 89’

[Sweaty Gussets]

46 minutes ago, ben_the_beast said:

I'm not sure Stokes form has me worried. They've beaten Huddersfield, Swansea and Sunderland and lost to Blackpool and Millwall in that time. In terms of the wins you couldn't wish for 3 kinder fixtures.

What does worry me is them being Stoke. I've not looked at our history against them, but my immediate memories of playing them is we never seem to perform well. I'm certain it's not going to be a pretty game. Alex Neill isn't a bad manager and I see them sitting deep with us struggling to carve out many opportunities. 

Prediction is 0-0.

If a team is to win it will be 1-0 and that could just as likely be them as it is us. 

Stoke's forward line of Campbell and Gayle worries me. They've also got Ben Pearson in the middle. All good players at this level. 

[booth]

2 minutes ago, Sweaty Gussets said:

Stoke's forward line of Campbell and Gayle worries me. They've also got Ben Pearson in the middle. All good players at this level. 

Looking at it from their perspective, they must be very worried about ours.

[Sweaty Gussets]

10 minutes ago, booth said:

Looking at it from their perspective, they must be very worried about ours.

Absolutely. just making the point they are a team with goals in them, as some of their recent results have shown. 

[roversfan99]

We are in the thick of a top 6 push, having won 5 on the bounce.

Stoke away especially in reasonable form won't be easy but I wouldn't "take a draw" now, even though that may well turn into a decent one should it materialise.

[goozburger]

2 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Stoke away especially in reasonable form won't be easy but I wouldn't "take a draw" now, even though that may well turn into a decent one should it materialise.

I would. Neil is a canny manager and I'd just like us to keep our momentum ticking over. Four points from the next two would keep us well on-track.

Edited March 5, 2023 by goozburger

[rigger]

1 minute ago, goozburger said:

I would. Neil is a canny manager and I'd just like us to keep our momentum ticking over. Four points from the next two would keep us well on-track.

If we beat Stoke, it takes the pressure off the Reading game.

[goozburger]

1 minute ago, rigger said:

If we beat Stoke, it takes the pressure off the Reading game.

Like @Sweaty Gussets I just have a bad feeling about this one. A defeat would make for a miserable weekend watching it all unfold, so I would happily accept a point.

[roversfan99]

I just think that as opposed to being near the bottom, draws at the top aren't as helpful with the likelihood of a couple of rivals getting a 2 point advantage over the weekend.

Wouldn't be a disaster of course, but we are in such form that hopefully we can strike whilst the iron is hot.

[goozburger]

1 minute ago, roversfan99 said:

I just think that as opposed to being near the bottom, draws at the top aren't as helpful with the likelihood of a couple of rivals getting a 2 point advantage over the weekend.

You just said it could turn into a decent one.

[rigger]

Just now, goozburger said:

You just said it could turn into a decent one.

Decent, isn't good enough. Same as giving it a right good go, wasn't.

[goozburger]

Frankly I think a point at Stoke would be good, and a win excellent. Let's see. It seems the expectations have gone up at least.

[booth]

We need to beat Stoke, Reading, Birmingham, Hudds and Hull if we want to have any chance of promotion. We have a tricky final five games of the season so we need to stock up on points now.

[Miller11]

We have no reason to fear anyone at the moment. I think we will continue our excellent form here.

[Admiral Nelsen]

50 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

We are in the thick of a top 6 push, having won 5 on the bounce.

Stoke away especially in reasonable form won't be easy but I wouldn't "take a draw" now, even though that may well turn into a decent one should it materialise.

 

Agree with that. It should be pretty extreme circumstances that we ever take a point before kick off in this league. Maybe once or twice a season at a push.

Having said that, we probably need 4/5 wins plus a draw or two to secure a top 6 finish. A tricky looking away fixture as one of the draws is a decent result. 

[roverandout]

We've just beaten a shithouse team. Stoke will be no problem 

Edited March 5, 2023 by roverandout

[MarkBRFC]

The minute you start to think you have cracked it in this league something will bite you on the backside.

More concerned about these than playing sheffield utd again.

This game has developed into my "burnley" in recent years as I only live 12 miles away from there and everyone around me supports them.

Stoke 1 Rovers 0

Edited March 5, 2023 by MarkBRFC

[DE.]

Stoke have some players who should be excellent at this level, but if they were a good or consistent team they wouldn't be 16th. It's a potential banana peel but certainly no reason to expect we'll drop points here.