Saturday 17th January, 3pm
Well the surprisingly agreeable and generally uplifting dalliance with this year's FA Cup is now over so it's back to the meat and potatoes of the EFL and what better way to come back down to earth than visit Stoke's bitterly cold Bet365 stadium/roundabout/junction.
I imagine the blue and white army will experience several thousand "deserters" from last week's campaign and the usual 1500ish will make their way North for this skirmish.
Stoke are part of that clutch of about 12 teams eyeing up 6th spot. They had a better Christmas than us (who didn't!?) so currently sit in 8th spot on 40pts. We're 11th on 38pts.
So we can leapfrog them with a win but we cannot make 6th this weekend. I think that second bit is significant given how we lose EVERY game that would see us crash the top 6 - rather than treating it as a duel for the play-offs we can call it a midtable clash instead and not get crippled with nerves.
If we can maintain the approach from the West Ham game, that is 100% commitment, concentration and effort, I think we can pick up 3pts. But, with so many limp half-hearted showings blotting our copy book this season it's not exactly a given that we will actually put a collective shift in. It's therefore a difficult one to call....
Well the surprisingly agreeable and generally uplifting dalliance with this year's FA Cup is now over so it's back to the meat and potatoes of the EFL and what better way to come back down to earth than visit Stoke's bitterly cold Bet365 stadium/roundabout/junction.
I imagine the blue and white army will experience several thousand "deserters" from last week's campaign and the usual 1500ish will make their way North for this skirmish.
Stoke are part of that clutch of about 12 teams eyeing up 6th spot. They had a better Christmas than us (who didn't!?) so currently sit in 8th spot on 40pts. We're 11th on 38pts.
So we can leapfrog them with a win but we cannot make 6th this weekend. I think that second bit is significant given how we lose EVERY game that would see us crash the top 6 - rather than treating it as a duel for the play-offs we can call it a midtable clash instead and not get crippled with nerves.
If we can maintain the approach from the West Ham game, that is 100% commitment, concentration and effort, I think we can pick up 3pts. But, with so many limp half-hearted showings blotting our copy book this season it's not exactly a given that we will actually put a collective shift in. It's therefore a difficult one to call....
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