Stoke & Staffordshire

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  1. A valuable point for makeshift Stoke sidepublished at 13:34 GMT 25 January

    Mark Elliott
    BBC Radio Stoke

    Lamine Cisse, of Stoke City, runs past Phil Neumann, of Birmingham City, during the Championship matchImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Stoke City winger Lamine Cisse had to play up front against Birmingham City

    All points are equal, but some points are more equal than others and this one felt extremely valuable.

    An injury-hit squad lost Ben Wilmot before the visit to Birmingham City as Stoke City were only able to name two recognised first-team players on the bench.

    One of those was Aaron Cresswell, returning from an injury of his own, and he had to share minutes at left-back with starter Eric Bocat, who has also been out and isn't yet ready to play a full game.

    That left Ben Pearson and almost half an under-21 team on the bench to offer fresh legs, and a starting XI which included top scorer Sorba Thomas at right-back and another winger in Lamine Cisse up front.

    Stoke looked tired in the midweek defeat by Middlesbrough and simply couldn't rotate nearly as much as Mark Robins would surely have liked because of the numbers out.

    Having fallen behind to a poor goal, conceded from a set-piece in very un-Stoke fashion, it took immense character and resilience to force a draw against a Birmingham side with a very impressive home record.

    That a credible case could be made to say Stoke were the better team overall is a testament to their collective response to the adversity they currently face.

    Steven Nzonzi came into the side and was excellent, and at the other end of the football age scale, Favour Fawunmi came on for his first career league appearance and made a good contribution.

    The draw keeps Stoke in touch with the top six and, with a week to go until their next game to get players fit and hopefully make an addition or two in the transfer window, some relief may be on the way.

    Dutch striker Milan Smit was pictured with fans outside St Andrew's, so his arrival on loan will provide a much-needed option for a squad missing all four recognised strikers through injury.

    If Stoke can pick up enough points in the short term to still be in the mix with 10 games to go and with a largely fit squad, they'll be a terrifying prospect for the other teams in the play-off picture.

  2. An important performance - Robinspublished at 17:49 GMT 24 January

    Media caption,

    Robins: 'I thought we were the better team'

    Stoke City manager Mark Robins praised his players for battling back from a goal down at Birmingham despite having 11 players injured and defender Bosun Lawal suspended.

    He told BBC Radio Stoke: "It was an important performance because we are [down to the] bare bones and everyone knows it and sees it, but the packed-out away end was phenomenal and backed us all the way.

    "The players really appreciate that. I thought we were the better team in the first half and created some decent openings that we usually don't take anyway.

    "We've got 12 players out and the majority of those are first-team starters, or have been, so to put in a performance like that was really pleasing.

    "[Birmingham] have been good at home this year and we gave as good as we got, could have taken some chances, and had chances to create shooting opportunities which we turned down - that's the only criticism, I want them to shoot, have a go.

    "We conceded a really poor goal, but the response was emphatic, a brilliant delivery from Cressy."

  3. Tamworth re-sign Creaney from Solihull Moorspublished at 18:15 GMT 23 January

    Dan CreaneyImage source, Shutterstock
    Image caption,

    Dan Creaney scored three goals in 12 league games for Solihull Moors this season

    Tamworth have re-signed forward Dan Creaney on a free transfer from Solihull Moors.

    He was a prolific scorer in his first spell at The Lamb Ground from 2023 to the summer of 2025 and returned in November for an eight-match loan spell.

    "I have been trying to get Dan back ever since his loan period ended in December," said manager Andy Peaks.

    "This is an 18-month deal so we are really pleased that we have Dan committed for next season too."

    Tamworth are 13th in National League and at home to Sutton United on Saturday.