Stoke City survivor sees new hope emerging in Mark Robins era
Ben Wilmot talks about changing Stoke City’s fortunes, playing through injury and a new sense of stability under someone you know is in charge
Stoke City’s new longest-serving player Ben Wilmot is relieved to be optimistic as he reported for Day One of pre-season training.
Wilmot has seen a huge number of comings and goings around him since he first arrived at Clayton Wood in the summer of 2021, playing under five managers and alongside dozens of teammates as Stoke have struggled to break a cycle of bottom half finishes.
But he is pleased that this summer isn’t shaping up for the kind of wholesale changes he saw a couple of years ago, when he was one of only three players on Day One who would prove to be first team regulars in what was to follow.
And he is hopeful that this time can be a lot less stressful and a lot more enjoyable than the last two or three, which have involved looking over the shoulder more than up the table.
“One hundred per cent,” he said. “The reason I came here was to get back into the Premier League and that’s not happened. This has probably been the most optimistic I’ve been coming in for pre-season over the last few years. I do think with the group we’ve got and the manager we’ve got and management staff we have, this season should be a lot better than last season.
“It has gone quickly, the last few years. I didn’t think I would be the longest-serving player this quickly. Myself and Jack Bonham were both arrived for the first day of pre-season four years ago and then we’re now going into Season Five with having no one else left from that pre-season, which is a bit crazy.
“Hopefully we can get a bit more consistency and I’m sure we’ll be fine.
“The staff has changed too. Even the physios have come and gone. The turnaround across the board has been crazy. Hopefully things are going to settle down under this manager and we can get this club back to where it needs to be.”
Stoke’s battle to stay up went down to the last day last season but they were helped in their cause by the defence becoming more consistent and tighter under Mark Robins. Wilmot, now aged 25, got used to pairing Ashley Phillips in the middle, flanked by Eric Bocat and Junior Tchamadeu and in front of Viktor Johansson.
