By Gareth James
Stoke City manager Michael O’Neil intends to make it a repeat dose of the medicine he dished out to Swansea City in August when the two clubs meet on Tuesday night.
The Swans visit the Potteries with painful memories of the 3-1 home defeat inflicted by O’Neil’s side back in August – a result achieved with only 36 per cent possession.
O’Neil has said the manner of the victory – achieved by patient counter-attacking – will be the blueprint for the return as Russell Martin’s team try to build on Saturday’s gritty 1-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers.
“They had a new manager at the start of the season and there’s a difference in their style of play,” said O’Neill.
“They’re very, very focused on possession of the ball. The possession statistics are consistently very high. We have to take care of the ball ourselves because if you aren’t, then you struggle to get it back.
“We have to be very good without the ball, too. We were very good without the ball at Swansea, played well and won the game. The objective is the same.
Can Swansea City do it on a cold Wednesday night in Stoke? 🤔
YES WE CAN! 🦢
pic.twitter.com/80jMB34biT— Swansea Beat ⚽️ (@swanseabeat) March 3, 2021
“They will be a little further developed than early in the season when Russell wasn’t long in the job and hadn’t had a huge amount of time to impose his style of play and thoughts on the players.
“They’ve signed some players who have added to their in that period as well.
“It’ll be a tough game. They’ve had a really good result against Blackburn who are doing very well in the league – but it’s a game we are a capable of winning and to put ourselves back into the play-off reckoning we have to make sure our home form is back to how it was earlier in the season.”
Both clubs occupy mid-table positions in the Championship and look short of the consistency needed to mount a challenge for the play-offs.
Stoke beat Wigan in their last game to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup, but before that their last home victory in the league was on November 20.
Here’s the table after another day of action! #EFL | #SkyBetChampionship pic.twitter.com/Ugmodm0sKw
— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) February 5, 2022
But Martin’s men have not won away from home since November 24, either, and have only scored one goal in their last four away games.
Ryan Manning is suspended after his red card against Blackburn, while fellow defender Kyle Naughton is set to miss out again with a thigh injury he picked up against Luton.
Goalkeeper Andy Fisher kept his first clean sheet since joining the Swans from MK Dons in the win over second-placed Rovers at the weekend, but has conceded the team’s recent levels are not enough for them to challenge for the play-offs.
“As a squad we know our level hasn’t been up to scratch, but beating a team that are second in the league whilst being a man down shows what level we can get to,” said Fisher.
“We stuck with it, the team spirit was up there and we ground out the result.”