Stoke & Staffordshire

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  1. Robins keeping calm about Potters plight

    Stoke number 10 Bae Jun-Ho is closed down by Cardiff's Luey Giles in the 3-3 draw in the Potteries in February Rex Features

    Stoke and Cardiff are both locked in a relegation fight at the bottom of the Championship

    Stoke City boss Mark Robins says he is trying to keep things calm going into Saturday's latest relegation crunch game at Cardiff City.

    After being denied three points by an injury-time equaliser from 23rd-placed Luton Town at the Bet365 Stadium, Robins' Potters now take on 22nd-placed Cardiff City.

    Cardiff are two points better off than Luton and a home win - coupled with Derby County winning at Portsmouth - would dump Stoke in the bottom three.

    But Robins knows that it is down to him to talk positively, back his players and keep the nerves out of his dressing room.

    "Unfortunately I've come into a situation when I knew this may be possible and it's proving that way," he said. "But I love the job and this is part of the job.

    "I'm just trying to get us over the line this season and then we will look to what we can do in the future so that we don't see this happen anymore.

    "There are good players, there really are. They have the talent which they can utilise to help benefit us for the rest of this season and beyond.

    "There have been circumstances around this season that I don't want to see again. There have been too many players who have missed too much football for whatever reason. At the end of all this we have to make sure that those things don't happen. But it's the here and now that matters."

    After Saturday's trip to South Wales, the Potters host Sheffield Wednesday on Good Friday before two games in five days against two of the top three - away to Leeds United on Easter Monday and a Friday night visit of Sheffield United - then the final-day trip to John Eustace's Derby.

  2. Two mugshots side by side - one man has dark hair and a dark beard, and is wearing a black top, while the other has long black hair and a goatee and is wearing a blue shirt.

  3. A large group of people, all wearing high visibility vests and hard hats, is stood posing for the camera. The front four are holding shovels.

  4. Pick of the stats: Cardiff City v Stoke City

    Cardiff City and Stoke City club emblems

    There have probably not been many bigger meetings between Cardiff City and Stoke City.

    A victory for the Welsh side could condemn the Potters to a place in the relegation zone, but Stoke also have the chance to put some breathing space between themselves and the bottom three.

    • Cardiff are unbeaten across their past nine league games against Stoke (W3 D6), winning this fixture 2-1 at home last season.

    • Stoke have failed to win any of their past six away league games against Cardiff (D3 L3) since a 1-0 victory in August 2007.

    • Each of Cardiff's past three league games have been draws (1-1 v Sheffield Wednesday, 0-0 v QPR, 2-2 v Preston); the Bluebirds last drew four successive league games in December 2022, a run which included a 2-2 draw with Stoke.

    • Stoke have managed to win just one of their past 13 away league matches (D4 L8), a 2-1 victory at Hull in February.

    • Stoke's Lewis Baker has scored seven goals in the Championship this season; only in 2021-22 has he netted more in a single league campaign (8). Baker has five goals in his past eight league appearances, as many as his previous 52 beforehand.

  5. A four-storey brick-built building, which has been seriously damaged, can be seen with fencing around it.

  6. A woman with short grey hair in a pink jacket is walking arm in arm with a man with short grey hair, their backs are to the camera. They are walking past a black metal fence that has a large white sign. It reads "polling station" in black letters. There are bushes in the background

  7. A woman is holding her baby son in her arms. Both mother and son are dressed in red and smiling at the camera. The woman's hair is brown and cut in a bob, with a fringe, and pink bathroom tiles and a floral shower curtain can be seen behind.

  8. Police mugshots of Jack Spackman, Joe Corden and Kyle Worthington. Each is stood against a light-coloured background.

  9. The back of a British police officer's vest. It is neon yellow with silver reflective strips on the side. It has the words police in bold white lettering.

  10. Cheltenham players celebrate

  11. Cheryl Sutherland has shoulder-length red hair and is wearing thick black framed glasses. She is sat on a sofa with a neutral expression on her face.

  12. A woman with long brown hair flowing out from underneath a white cycle helmet. She is wearing sunglasses and a purple tabard on which is printed: "AMMF - THE CHOLANGIOCARCINOMA CHARITY".

  13. Stoke-on-Trent Lord Mayor Lyn Sharpe, in black and gold mayoral robes, is seen unveiling a logo which features a traditional bottle oven and the number 100. Next to her is Reverend Geoff Eze holding a white sheet with the city's crest on it.

  14. A man with grey balding hair is pictured looking at the camera. He is stood against a light-coloured backdrop.

  15. Two football players in Aston Villa uniform playing football with a goal keeper at the forefront wearing a pink kit on a pitch. Crowds of football fans can be seen behind them.

  16. A still from A Minecraft Movie. On the left is the actor Jack Black, a man with long hair and a bushy grey beard, is wearing a turquoise jumper and navy blue trousers. A child actor, Sebastian Hansen, a boy with thick curly dark hair, is on the right, wearing a red jumper and dark blue trousers. The actor Jason Momoa, with long dark hair and a dark beard, is standing in the middle and slightly in front of them, wearing a pink jacket over a white t-shirt with ripped light blue jeans. All three have shocked expressions on their faces and Momoa is using his arms to hold them back.

  17. A three-storey building with large circular windows and a mosaic which depicts William Shakespeare above the central window. There are steps to the right hand side of the building, leading up to a red door.

  18. 🎧 A confidence-killing draw

    Five cup finals

    "To not be able to take the maximum points, in a game where I think they needed to, is going to be a real confidence killer for them."

    Lucas Yeomans is joined by former midfielder David Fox as they discuss Stoke City's disappointing 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers Luton Town and what it means for the relegation fight.

    Listen to the full episode and more on the A Cold, Wet Tuesday Night podcast.

    Listen on BBC Sounds

  19. A composite image of two police mugshots. Both are older men. The man on the left has thinning white hair, black-rimmed glasses and a small white moustache. The man on the right has no hair on the top of his head but has close-cropped dark hair on the sides of his head.

  20. People silhouetted against flames of white, yellow and orange with sparks visible in a couple of places. Some of the people appear to have helmets on.

  21. 'I couldn't believe it was in the back of the net'

    Stoke City boss Mark Robins Rex Features

    Stoke City boss Mark Robins admits he had a feeling of disbelief at Luton Town's injury-time equaliser at the Bet365 Stadium.

    With the hosts looking on course for a third straight home win when Lewis Baker's free-kick was deflected in on 74 minutes, Luton substitute Millenic Alli was left alone at the far post to fire home from a tight angle.

    "He should never be able to get any space," Robins told BBC Radio Stoke. "It's a slither of space. He should never be able to get it in.

    "I had to look twice, I couldn't believe it was in the back of the net.

    "We're disappointed and, at the end of the day, Luton are celebrating as they haven't lost. But we should still have seen them off.

    "We'd dealt with everything they've had to throw at us - and they've thrown a lot. We'd scored and we should have got it done.

    "They've made the game really difficult. You've got to expect that. And the ball was in the air a lot more, which isn't ideal, but you've got to deal with it and we did that pretty well until the last bit.

    "It just flattens everything. I'm really disappointed but, take the emotions out of it, we've got to take the point and make it into a better one at Cardiff on Saturday.

    "There's still a long way to go and we now have to be ready to go again."

    After Saturday's trip to the Cardiff City Stadium, the Potters host Sheffield Wednesday on Good Friday before two games in the space of five days against two of the top three - away to Leeds United on Easter Monday, a Friday night visit of Sheffield United and then the final-day trip to John Eustace's Derby County.

  22. Teenager Ellie, a girl with blonde hair, is wearing a star-shaped silver earring and has glitter stickers on her cheeks.

  23. A hospital with ambulances parked outside it. The hospital building is several storeys high, and has red and yellow cladding on the lower part.

  24. The entrance to a gravel car park, with a sign that reads Hales Hall Pool. There is a metal gate set back from the road, with wooden fencing either side.