Stoke & Staffordshire

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  1. 🎧 Could Stoke be in for a good season?published at 10:05 BST

    Media caption,

    A Cold Wet Tuesday Night: Are Stoke...good?

    "I'm not for a minute thinking play-offs or title charge or anything of the sort, even top half finish.

    "But Stoke are in amongst the best vein of form they've been in 10 years. Everyone should be able to enjoy this."

    Lucas Yeomans and Ben Rowley discuss an excellent start for Stoke City that has got them feeling excited, confused and, dare they say, positive for the season ahead.

    Listen to the full episode of A Cold Wet Tuesday Night and more Stoke City content on BBC Sounds.

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  2. Wilmot outlines Stoke's play-off ambitionpublished at 15:20 BST 15 September

    Media caption,

    Wilmot: 'We should be aiming even higher'

    Ben Wilmot has said Stoke City are aiming for the play-offs this season following their strong start to the Championship season.

    Stoke have won four and lost one to open the season and marked their return after the international break with a 1-0 win over Birmingham City. They currently sit second in the Championship just one point behind leaders Middlesbrough.

    The Potters have not finished in the top six since the 2007-08 season, when they reached second and were promoted to the Premier League.

    Since relegation from the top-flight in 2017-18, they have finished no higher than 14th.

    "We came back to pre-season determined not to have a season like we did last year. Then I think as pre-season progressed, we realised we should be aiming even higher with the group that we've got," Wilmot told BBC Radio Stoke.

    "Everybody's ambitions now are really play-offs and we all fully believe we can get there."

    With club captain and fellow centre-back Ben Gibson still fighting for a return to the first XI, Wilmot has worn the armband.

    The centre-back will lead his side through a crucial portion of the season as they look to pick up points in the run of games before the October international break.

    Wilmot sees the next few weeks as an opportunity for Stoke to fully establish themselves as play-off contenders for the season.

    "The start of the season's always really key because everybody's on a level playing field," he added. "So if you can get as many points as you can early it gives you a buffer later on."

    Listen to the full interview with Ben Wilmot and more Stoke City on Sounds.

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  3. Three points and an instant cult hero for Stokepublished at 14:15 BST 14 September

    Mark Elliott
    BBC Radio Stoke's Stoke City commentator

    New Stoke arrival Tomas RigoImage source, Rex Features
    Image caption,

    Tomas Rigo has been capped seven times by Slovakia

    Stoke City fans got three points and an instant cult hero as the Potters made it four wins out of five against one of the Championship's hype teams in Birmingham City.

    The points came courtesy of a brilliant first-half performance which was full of creativity, intensity and excitement, punctuated by a looping Bosun Lawal header for the only goal of the game and followed by a stubborn defensive stand after the break.

    It was Lawal's ninth career goal and, given his stature, it was more than a little bit surprising to hear him say after that it was the first header he's ever scored.

    Lawal was immense in both boxes and continued a run of excellent performances at centre-back which have left two of the club's most eye-catching summer signings in Maksym Talovierov and Ashley Phillips struggling for game time.

    Defensively, Stoke have strength in depth in their squad to rival any club in the league.

    Another summer signing, Lamine Cisse, made his debut off the bench to further strengthen the attack and Sorba Thomas continued his fine start to the season, well supported by Million Manhoef and Bae Junho, who made an impact off the bench.

    It was Junho's replacement in the starting 11 that really got the crowd going at the bet365 though.

    Before the international break, newly acquired Tomas Rigo was presented to the crowd in jeans the size of a wedding marquee and knitwear that would be the envy of any grunge frontman of the early 1990s.

    His swagger and bleach blonde hair whet the appetite, as did reports of his influence as Slovakia beat Germany and Luxembourg last week.

    The Stoke fans loved his work-rate. He covered a huge amount of ground, was physical and played with a personality that matched his pre-game attire.

    Mark Robins says he's a "proper footballer" too, with good technical ability and vision.

    Withdrawn in the second half, his own name, sung from the stands by a crowd loving every second of this start to the season, may still be ringing around his ears.

    Stoke are a good side. Four wins out of five has fans resetting their ambitions for the next nine months - and rightly so.

  4. 'Johannson is the best keeper in the Championship'published at 13:22 BST 14 September

    Naz Premji
    BBC Final Score reporter

    Viktor JohannsonImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Viktor Johannson has kept two Championship clean sheets this season

    Stoke City are looking up again after many years at the wrong end of the Championship and Mark Robins has the Potters believing that the good times are coming back.

    One player who has been superb since arriving at the bet365 Stadium is keeper Viktor Johansson.

    The Swedish shot-stopper, who is a product of the Aston Villa and Hammerby academies, made his name at Rotherham United where all his managers described him as "the best keeper in the league".

    He joined Stoke last year and he was again solid in their 1-0 victory over Birmingham on Saturday.

    The fans I spoke to are in no doubt that "he is a Premier League stopper stuck in the Championship and if we don't go up he will go".

    Those fans are quietly hopeful that this could be their season and if it is they will hope Big Viktor is helping them in the top league.