Stoke City team news vs Norwich as Mark Robins makes three changes
Team news from Carrow Road as Stoke City key man misses out against Norwich City
Wouter Burger misses Stoke City’s match with Norwich as Mark Robins makes three changes to his starting XI.
Burger limped off with a knee injury in the closing stages of last weekend’s win over Swansea and although the manager said in his pre-match press conference that he was back training, he has not made the squad at Carrow Road. Jordan Thompson and Lewis Koumas drop to the bench.
In come Enda Stevens, Tatsuki Seko and Lewis Baker as Stoke look to build on that victory and edge themselves up the Championship table.
Andrew Moran might be asked to play wide on the right as Baker comes back into midfield, with Bae Junho expected to operate on the left and Ali Al-Hamadi down the middle.
Junior Tchamadeu, Michael Rose and Ashley Phillips compete the back four with Stevens and Viktor Johansson is in goal.
Ben Wilmot returns to the bench for the first time since picking up a foot injury at Portsmouth in January and Sam Gallagher is back among the subs for the first time since he was injured in Robins’ first game in early January.
Stoke: Johansson, Tchamadeu, Stevens, Rose, Phillips, Pearson, Seko, Baker, Moran, Junho, Al-Hamadi. Subs: Bonham, Wilmot, Thompson, Manhoef, Koumas, Tezgel, Vidigal, Gallagher, Lowe.
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Injuries to key players have plagued Stoke City for most of a troubled season – and fans thought the curse had struck again when Wouter Burger limped off against Swansea last week.
The Dutchman has hit top form under new boss Mark Robins, particularly since Stoke rejected a deadline-day approach for his services from Danish Superliga leaders FC Midtjylland.
But he was subbed after 70 minutes of the 3-1 victory over the Swans after scoring for the Potters and turning in arguably his best display of the season so far.
However, Robins delivered an encouraging update on the knee problem that restricted Burger’s time last week, saying: “It’s looking a lot more positive. He’s on the grass training.”
While it looks like Burger has a chance of facing Norwich City on Saturday (3pm kick-off), Robins admits to being frustrated by the absence of key men as he plots Stoke’s escape route away from the Championship relegation zone.
He added in his pre-match press conference: “I can’t wait for everybody to be available so I don’t have to think about how long I can use people for. That’ll become easier over time.
