Stoke City

Ged Scott and Mark Elliott
BBC Sport England

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Stoke City defender Ben Wilmot is confident the Potters can bounce straight back from suffering their first defeat in almost two months.

After starting the season with three straight Championship losses, Mark Robins' men had responded superbly with a run of 16 points out of a possible 18.

Middlesbrough's injury-time winner at the Bet365 Stadium on Tuesday brought that to a cruel end - but Stoke now face the Championship's current bottom two in their next three matches.

And Wilmot says they will be motivated by the way they performed against Boro.

"The positive is that we put in a good performance and shouldn't have lost," he told BBC Radio Stoke. "And I'm sure we'll soon get back to winning ways.

"We're young and we're learning but we're still full of confidence. We were good value for at least a point.

"We took our time to get into the game. They dominated the ball in the first half without creating loads, which we were fine with, but we knew we needed to get more of the ball, which we did second half.

"It was then the little moments that cost us in the second half and that's disappointing."

Saturday's trip to Potters old boy John Eustace's Derby is their next test, followed by home games on successive Saturdays - Bristol City, then the visit of bottom club Preston North End.

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Errors were Stoke's undoing in a game in which they tried to go toe to toe with Middlesbrough and came up short.

Stoke should have had a penalty in the first half when Jeremy Sarmiento hauled down Djibril Soumare and Junior Tchamadeu missed a good chance when he raced through on goal in the second.

On another day they might have won by the odd goal in several or taken at least a point but this time it was not to be.

The first 10 games have given us a decent idea of where Stoke sit in the Championship.

They have lost to Swansea, Southampton, Wolves and Middlesbrough who are, along with West Ham, probably the five teams to beat when it comes to automatic promotion.

Against the rest, they have had nothing but good results, suggesting they are right to aim to finish in the lower half of the top eight.

As a team that is still improving, that is not a bad position to be in and they have a great chance to further enhance those projections over the next month.

Games at Derby County, Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth around home games against Bristol City and Preston North End provide a run of fixtures that could yield a double figure haul in terms of points.

A run of five wins in six unbeaten games may be over but there is no reason to suggest they should not bounce back and put another sequence of positive results together.

Defeat by Boro is one to learn and move on from.

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Two of the Championship's in-form sides will meet when Stoke City welcome Middlesbrough to the bet365 Stadium on Tuesday night.

After losing their opening three matches of the season, the Potters are unbeaten since then with five wins from six (D1), including three victories in a row.

During that impressive run, Stoke have climbed from bottom to fourth in the table.

Meanwhile, second-placed Boro are unbeaten in their past seven games (W4 D3) and have lost just once so far this season.

• Stoke have lost three of their past four league games against Middlesbrough (D1), more than in their previous eight beforehand (W3 D3 L2).

• Middlesbrough have won both of their previous two away league games against Stoke, and are looking to win three in a row for the very first time.

• Stoke are looking to win four consecutive home league games for the first time since April 2014 in the Premier League.

• Middlesbrough have only lost one of their past 10 away games in the Championship (W3 D6), a 1-2 defeat at Blackburn in August.

• Mark Robins has only won more Championship games as a manager against Millwall (9) than Middlesbrough (8), although he has lost two of his three against them with Stoke (D1).

The latest episode of BBC Radio Stoke's A Cold Wet Tuesday Night podcast is out now.

Lucas Yeomans and Louis Moult discuss Stoke's win at Bolton Wanderers to go six games unbeaten.

Listen above or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.

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When Stoke went down to 10 men with 70 minutes left on the clock at Bolton, it looked as though their unbeaten run was in real danger of coming to an abrupt end.

But in truth, the biggest compliment they can be given is that even a man down they never really looked likely to lose once they'd taken the lead against the run of play just before half-time.

Lamine Cisse worked relentlessly hard, held the ball up brilliantly at times and took his goal well - and in the second half his team-mates managed the game excellently.

Ben Wilmot's header from a set piece was the perfect goal for a shorthanded team to score to double the lead and Cisse and Luca Bombino could have added another.

They defended well after giving up two very good early chances, one of which was superbly saved by Viktor Johansson and were rightly roared on by a raucous away following throughout.

Stoke entertain Middlesbrough in midweek as an equal at the right end of the Championship table.

It will be another stiff test of this new team's credentials but if the evidence of the past six games is anything to go by, they have the quality to get another positive result.

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Stoke City manager Mark Robins spoke to BBC Radio Stoke after their 10 men won 2-1 at Bolton to climb to fourth in the Championship.

For a written selection of his quotes, click here.

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West Ham United are celebrating winning both the Championship's manager and player of the month awards for September.

Boss Nuno Espirito Santo oversaw an unbeaten run last month which produced four wins from their five league games in which they scored 18 goals.

Defender Konstantinos Mavropanos had a prolific September for the Hammers, scoring four goals while also helping them keep two clean sheets as they moved up to second place in the table.

"I am delighted to win this award, but it was an excellent team effort this month," said Mavropanos.

"We had some good results, went on a good run, and obviously this award means that we are doing something good with the team.

"I am the one who has been given the award this time, but it could have been any of my team-mates, and I am just really happy that we are in a good way right now."

Lincoln head coaches Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw, Swansea's Vitor Matos and Mark Robins of Stoke City were also nominated for the manager award.

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Stoke City will hope to continue their excellent form when they visit Bolton Wanderers in the Championship on Saturday (kick-off 15:00 BST).

The Potters lost their opening three games of the season and were bottom of the table at the end of August but are unbeaten since then and have climbed to seventh with four wins from five matches (D1).

Bolton have won two on the bounce following a run of four straight defeats, with their most recent success a thrilling 4-3 win at Norwich before the international break.

• This is the first league meeting between Bolton Wanderers and Stoke City since a goalless draw in the Championship in December 2018.

• Stoke City are winless in their pre10 league visits to Bolton Wanderers (D4 L6) since a 1-0 win in October 1990 under manager Alan Ball.

• Bolton have won their past two Championship matches – they haven't won three in a row at this level since April 2014; this is their 197th game in the Championship since then.

• No team won more points in the Championship in September than Stoke (13), who won four of their five matches (D1). It was more wins than they'd managed in their previous 23 games (W3 D6 L14).

• Thierry Gale has been involved in four goals in eight Championship appearances for Bolton this season (3 goals, 1 assist) – he's the first Barbadian with as many as three goals in a Championship season since Nick Blackman scored 11 in 2015-16 for Reading.

Robbie Savage will have his first crack at management in the EFL after taking over at Peterborough United, while Michael Duff has replaced Graham Alexander at Bradford City.

Savage and Duff both appear on the latest 72+ EFL podcast with Jobi McAnuff, who is joined by Luke Chambers and Tommy Smith.

The panel also discuss the teams who have impressed and disappointed them in the Championship so far this season.

Spoiler alert... Stoke City, Swansea City, QPR, Burnley, Norwich City and Derby County all get a mention.

Listen to the full episode above or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.

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Lincoln City head coaches Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw, Swansea's Vitor Matos, Mark Robins of Stoke City and West Ham United boss Nuno Espirito Santo have been nominated for September's Championship manager of the month award.

Cohen and Shaw oversaw a run of eight points from five games for newly-promoted Lincoln last month, including away wins at Preston and Bristol City.

Matos won August's award and is in the running again as Swansea took 10 points in September to move to the top of the Championship table.

Stoke City recovered from losing their opening three games of the season under Robins to go unbeaten last month with four wins from their five outings and move up to seventh place.

West Ham boss Nuno's side rattled in 18 goals in their five matches in September with only Millwall preventing them from taking three points in a 2-2 draw at The Den.

The winner will be announced at 06:00 BST on Friday, 9 October.

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Stoke City midfielder Djibril Soumare says the togetherness in the squad has helped turn their early season form around.

After losing their first three games of the Championship season, the Potters have rallied excellently, winning four of five matches before the international break to move into seventh place, two points off the top two.

Soumare, one of a number of key summer arrivals that included £10m Northern Ireland midfielder Ethan Galbraith, has been an impressive presence in Stoke's run and the former Sheffield United loanee said there was a simple reason for that.

"I felt love since day one. So I'm really enjoying it here," he told BBC Radio Stoke.

"I think that togetherness is really like a family on the pitch, out of the pitch. I said when I joined I still want to develop and the staff here, coaches - it was the right one for me I think.

"If it's time to be serious we're going to be serious but in the dressing room, having a laugh with the boys, is something special."

Soumare made 25 appearances for the Blades in the Championship last season and he said he returned to England from Portuguese club Braga this summer with more of an idea what to expect.

"There's still a lot to develop on my football - the intensity, because I think I'm not 100% fit yet as I didn't have a proper pre-season," he added.

"That season [with United] wasn't perfect but I learned a lot - it was my first year in England, so now I think I understand the league better and will enjoy it more.

"To be honest, I really love this team, so I'm really looking forward to score my first goal - that will be something really special for me."

Stoke return to Championship action on Saturday at Bolton Wanderers [15:00 BST].

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Stoke City midfielder Ethan Galbraith held his hamstring as he left the field during Northern Ireland's goalless match against Georgia on Monday.

The 25-year-old, who had missed the international side's previous game against Ukraine to return home for the birth of his son, was substituted off the pitch in the 65th minute with the injury issue.

He started the match alongside Potters team-mate Justin Devenny.

Stoke return to action on Saturday when they make the trip to Bolton Wanderers (15:00 BST) in a bid to extend their five-match undefeated streak.

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Tamworth have signed Stoke City defender Sydney Agina on loan.

The 19-year-old full-back joins Potters team-mate Gabriel Kelly at the National League club.

Agina, who made his senior international debut for Kenya against Lesotho in June, spent the first month of this season on loan at Tamworth's league rivals Forest Green Rovers.

He has made five Championship appearances for Stoke and could make his debut for the Lambs in Saturday's game at Hartlepool (15:00 BST).

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National League side Tamworth have signed Stoke City midfielder Gabriel Kelly on loan until 1 November.

The 19-year-old is yet to make a competitive first-team appearance for Stoke but has captained the Potters' under-21 side this season.

Kelly's move was confirmed shortly before Tamworth's National League fixture at home to Sutton United on Wednesday.