Stoke City key man faces 10-game tightrope amid startling figures
The opposition has been shown more yellow cards than Stoke City in just one of 12 league and cup matches so far this season
Ben Wilmot is walking a 10-game tightrope to avoid a suspension in the Championship.
The 24-year-old defender has been booked in three of Narcis Pelach’s first four matches as head coach to take his total number of yellow cards to the season to four. Any player who receives five in the first 19 matches of the season is hit by an automatic one-game ban.
Wouter Burger is on three already too and faces a long two months up to the first weekend in December to avoid another couple of cautions that would leave him subjected to an afternoon or evening in the stands. Burger picked up five yellows in Stoke’s first 18 games last season while Wilmot avoided any suspension by getting past the amnesty.
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It is noted that Josh Laurent picked up three yellow cards in his three appearances for Stoke this season but is yet to have his name taken in five for new club Burnley.
That tallies with the fact that the opposing teams has only been booked more times than Stoke in one of 12 league and cup fixtures so far this term. Stoke have collected 31 cautions compared to their opponents’ 16 in numbers that would surprise neutrals – and despite Narcis Pelach’s early observations that his team had been too passive and needed to be far more aggressive.
Stoke faced a £5,000 fine from the FA for receiving seven yellow cards from Stafford-based referee Steve Martin late last month. Clubs are given 28 days to make written representations in mitigation but with warnings that if the mitigation is rejected, a regulatory commission has the power to increase the standard punishment.
The Potters would face a £10,000 penalty if six or more players are booked in any further fixture this season, with a further £5,000 added with every repeat.
Stoke received six bookings or more on one occasion last season – seven in a 4-2 defeat away at Queens Park Rangers in December – and once in the previous campaign – six in a 2-1 home defeat to West Brom when Wilmot was left with a broken back.
Wilmot has quickly emerged as a key player under Pelach, switching to right-back in the last two games to support Lewis Koumas while Junior Tchamadeu dropped to the bench. Stoke have four players on two yellows; Andrew Moran, Ben Gibson, Tchamadeu and Jordan Thompson.
Preston North End midfielder Ben Whiteman and Bristol City’s Mark Sykes were the first players in the Championship to pick up five yellows while there are 17 alongside Wilmot on four. Only Preston (29) have picked up more yellows so far this season in the league than Stoke (26), who are joint with Norwich (26). Middlesbrough (11) and Oxford United (14) are at the other end of the spectrum.
