Lynden Gooch: Stoke City defender says new-look squad does not have luxury of time to gel
- Published
Lynden Gooch played more than 200 games and scored 25 goals in just over nine seasons with Sunderland
Stoke City's current run of results make their new-look squad feel as though they "don't have time to gel", says defender Lynden Gooch.
The Potters' 1-0 defeat by Norwich was their third Championship loss in a row and extended their goal drought to more than five hours.
Stoke, 19th in the table, took all their six points so far from their first three games of the campaign.
"We just need that first one [win] to get the floodgates open," Gooch said.
Former Sunderland player Gooch was one of three signings made by Stoke on transfer deadline day - along with Montenegro international Sead Haksabanovic on loan from Celtic and 19-year-old defender Junior Tchamadeu arriving permanently from Colchester.
That brought the total number of signings to 17 in a busy summer for Potters boss Alex Neil.
United States international Gooch played under Neil when the two were at Sunderland together and said he was keen to link back up with his former boss in the Potteries after nearly 10 years on Wearside.
"I had a really good spell under the manager at Sunderland - and it's nice to feel wanted," Gooch told BBC Radio Stoke.
"I think I played some of my best football when he was at the club and it just got to the time when I needed a fresh start."
Gooch is now part of a re-vamped Stoke squad and knows he, and the other new faces, do not have the luxury of lots of time to get used to playing with each other.
"People are going to say we need time to gel - but, at the end of the day, we don't have time," he said.
"We need to start picking up points and winning games otherwise the pressure starts to mount - we know that and on another day, we score two or three [against Norwich].
"We've got new players, young players and those with experience in the Championship so we can't be too down."