Inside Stoke City’s play-off push: MARK ROBINS reveals how he’s battling the club’s ‘demoralising’ injury crisis, how Potters legend Jonathan Walters is improving club’s transfer record, why he’s banned mobile phones and his Premier League vision

As Stoke City’s players walked off the pitch at the bet365 stadium on a Tuesday night in late November, spirits were sky high.

A comfortable 3-0 victory against Charlton, settled by three first-half goals, left Mark Robins’ side second in the Championship and dreaming of a return to the Premier League.

Now in their eighth season in the second tier after relegation in 2018, Stoke’s highest Championship finish has been 14th, amid years of underachievement. Yet with Robins, the seventh permanent manager of this era, it felt like the good times were back.

This was never going to be a simple flick of a switch though – and following a tough winter and a brutal injury list which has reached double figures in recent weeks, reality has bitten. Stoke have dropped to 14th, although they remain only five points adrift of the play-offs in a wide-open Championship promotion race.

‘You show me a process in football that’s linear,’ Robins tells Daily Mail Sport when asked if a dip was always going to be natural, even without injuries, given Stoke’s struggles since they returned to the second tier.

‘Sorry, Wrexham are one, but even they’ve had some blips along the way. I’ve never known a situation like this (with the injuries) so it’s not an easy time, but it is what it is and it’s a challenge I must face and wade through.

Sorba Thomas (left) has shone for Stoke this season, scoring nine goals and adding six assists after joining from Huddersfield

‘There’s no need for pessimism though. It’s just disappointing because this season is a season for anybody – and it could have been us because we were playing some really good football and had a lot of momentum.’

Robins, the hugely respected boss who took Coventry from League Two to the Championship play-off final over seven years in charge, arrived at Stoke on New Year’s Day last year. The 56-year-old was the third manager of a tumultuous campaign and joined with the Potters locked in a relegation battle. Robins achieved what he was tasked with as Stoke secured safety on the final day of the season, yet it was still a period he described as ‘one of the toughest of my career’.

That base puts the recent run of form into perspective, especially as Robins – who signed a new three-and-a-half-year deal in November when times were good – has often spoken about the long-term project.

‘Last season wasn’t great,’ he adds. ‘But staying up was an achievement for that set of players. We’re going through a bit of a sticky patch with injuries now and that often correlates with a dip in form. It’s never a nice feeling to lose when you’ve been in a positive place, but we were on an upward curve, and the process does take time.’

After relegation was avoided, a busy summer followed as several players came and went. The club’s recruitment has been regularly criticised since relegation, but under former fan favourite Jonathan Walters, now technical director, their record in the market is much improved through a strong use of data and analytics.

Sorba Thomas has shone, scoring nine goals and adding six assists after joining from Huddersfield, while re-signing Ash Phillips on a second season-long loan from Tottenham was a shrewd move. Experience also came in via Aaron Cresswell and 2018 World Cup winner Steven Nzonzi, a popular figure from the Premier League era. Junior Tchamadeu (£300,000 from Colchester in 2023) and Viktor Johansson (£800,000 from Rotherham in 2024) are other examples of good deals in recent years.

This is particularly important given the FFP restrictions the club faces despite the generous backing of owner John Coates. Stoke are still feeling the effects of past transfer mistakes, including the notorious 2018 summer window when more than £50million was spent.

After stabilising Stoke last season with his calm leadership, Robins has also helped to unite the club, with attendances up from an average of 22,804 in 2024-25 to 24,165 this time around. He has similarly tried to change the culture, insisting on high standards around the training ground with phones banned in the canteen and in team meetings to encourage communication and bonds between his players.

World Cup winner Steven Nzonzi adds experience to the Stoke squad

‘We’re going through a bit of a sticky patch with injuries now,’ says Robins, ‘and that often correlates with a dip in form’ 

Elsewhere, Stoke’s defence is the tightest in the league in a nod to the days of Tony Pulis, although Robins is not particularly enamoured by that record. ‘I would much rather be the highest scoring team in the division,’ he says, with Stoke’s attack having faltered in recent months amid the injury woes. 

‘We can then deal with the goals we concede because we score more than the opponent. That’s a lot more exciting. It’s a great accolade to have but we’ve got to go and start getting the numbers at the opposite end.’

Stoke have blanked in 13 league games this season and one key absentee Robins points to is Lewis Baker. The former Chelsea youngster was recalled from a loan spell at Blackburn Rovers days after Robins’ arrival last January. Baker went on to score five times and add two assists in 17 matches to help Stoke stay up.

The midfielder’s good form continued at the start of this campaign, but having netted 21 times in the first 15 games of the campaign, the Potters have mustered only 13 in 17 matches during Baker’s absence since late November with an ankle injury.

A resounding 5-1 win at home to Bristol City in November demonstrates their scoring potential, and Robins was backed with the additions of attackers Ato Ampah, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Milan Smit in January. Keeper Gavin Bazunu also arrived yet was ruled out for six weeks shortly after making his debut with a thigh injury, summing up Stoke’s plight.

‘Everybody has challenges and this is ours,’ Robins says. ‘We were in a good position at the start of the season, and the winter months are always tough. We’ve had an inordinate number of injuries, and I don’t think any planning can mitigate that. It can be demoralising at times but we’ve got to deal with it.’

Robins can take positives from his side’s performance against Fulham on Sunday, where Stoke were narrowly beaten 2-1 in the FA Cup fourth round – for which he switched formation to a back three – and they secured impressive away wins at two of the Championship’s in-form teams in Norwich and Hull last month.

The Potters also don’t have to worry about a relegation battle after previous years given they are 11 points clear of the bottom three. There is a feeling that a play-off push will need the lengthy list of absentees to shorten, yet plenty can still be gleaned from the final 14 games of the season.

Stoke are missing the injured Lewis Baker who scored five times and added two assists in 17 matches to help Stoke stay up last season

Stoke’s Sam Gallagher celebrates scoring during his side’s victory at Norwich last month

‘We started off so brightly and expectation levels rightfully grew,’ Robins adds. ‘But you’d be hard-pressed to find any team that loses the number of players that we have and sustains performances.

‘Getting through this period is important, but it’s more important to get through it together. I’m here to steer us through these choppy waters to lead us to success – and ultimate success for us is to get to the Premier League and then sustain there and build.

‘That may seem a long way off, so let’s double down and make sure we’ve got a team on the pitch that is consistently competing and at the right end of this division, so we can get into a position to get back into the Premier League again.

‘We just need everyone to stick with us because what we’ve got is a set of circumstances that are very challenging.’