EP16: 'Dare to dream'
The latest episode of BBC Radio Stoke's A Cold Wet Tuesday Night podcast is out now.
Lucas, Matt and Louis discuss Stoke's 2-0 win at home to Preston and whether or not it's OK to start looking at the league table.
Listen above or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.
This will be the 108th meeting between Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City in a fixture which dates back to the very first Football League season of 1888-89.
Stoke head to Ewood Park on Tuesday (19:45 GMT) with only the leaders Middlesbrough (14) having taken more than their 13 points in the past six games.
Blackburn Rovers are winless in their past four league games against Stoke City (D2 L2), with both meetings last season finishing 1-1.
Stoke City have lost just one of their past 11 away league games against Blackburn Rovers (W6 D4), going down 3-1 in February 2024.
Blackburn have won each of their past three home league games, as many as across their previous 15 combined (D6 L6). They last won more consecutively at Ewood Park between August and October 2024 (5).
Following a prior 12-game winless run (D3 L9), Stoke have now won their past three away league games. They last won four in a row on the road in November/December 2005.
Andri Gudjohnsen has scored in each of his past three home league games. The last Blackburn player to score in four in a row at Ewood Park was Ben Brereton (5 in November/December 2021).
Image source, ShutterstockStoke City's second half performance showed just how good they can be when they play with tempo and bravery when it comes to their decision making in possession.
After half-time, already leading Preston by a single goal to nil, they were much more willing to choose a forward pass and trust their technical ability in playing through the lines.
In turn, they created a hatful of chances and could and probably should have won by three or four goals.
Defensively, nobody had conceded fewer goals than Stoke since the start of September and their young back three, with plenty of room still to grow, have been vital during a brilliant run of form that now spans 10 games.
Preston have been poor all season and it's difficult not to fear for them but Stoke dismissed them relatively comfortably.
Away games at Blackburn and Portsmouth will provide tougher tests over the next week but since the opening three games of the season provoked a change of system and late summer squad overhaul, they've taken an average of 2.3 points per game.
1.5 over the course of the season should be enough to secure a play off place so the Potters are already ahead of schedule given their stated pre-season ambitions.
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Stoke City boss Mark Robins spoke to BBC Radio Stoke after the win against Preston For a written selection of his quotes, click here
Robins: "We could've had 2, 3, 4 more"
Image source, ShutterstockPijus Otegbayo featured in three of Stoke's final four games last season
Barrow have signed Pijus Otegbayo on loan from Championship club Stoke City until January.
The 19-year-old Irish defender made three league appearances for the Potters last season, but has not featured in this campaign.
Otegbayo, who goes straight into the starting line-up for the game with Boston United (15:00 GMT) is the younger brother of Sheffield Wednesday player Gabriel.
Image source, OptaStoke City will seek to jump back into the automatic promotion places, for a few hours at least, as they welcome Championship basement boys Preston North End on Saturday (12:30 GMT).
Mark Robins' men had taken 12 points from five games before being held to a goalless draw at home to Bristol City on Saturday to drop to ninth, but the Potters have struggled against North End in recent years.
The Lilywhites are winless in seven but did pick up their first point in four games under Graham Alexander with a 1-1 home draw against West Bromwich Albion last time out. However, they have taken just one point from six games on the road this season.
Stoke City have won just one of their past seven league games against Preston North End (D3 L3), failing to score in four of those matches.
Preston North End are unbeaten across their past eight away league games against Stoke City (W5 D3), conceding just one goal in total across those matches.
Stoke have won six of their past nine league games (D2 L1), as many victories as across their prior 32 Championship matches combined.
Preston have lost five of their past six away league games (D1), while only Watford (8) have picked up fewer than their 13 away points in the Championship in 2026 among ever present sides.
Preston have lost just one of their past 11 league games played on Halloween (W3 D7), though did lose their most recent 2-1 against Birmingham City in 2020.
EP 15: 'Stoke's next challenge'
The latest episode of BBC Radio Stoke's A Cold Wet Tuesday Night podcast is out now.
Lucas, Matt and Louis discuss Stoke's next steps and battling it out in the weather in their 0-0 draw at home to Bristol City.
Listen above or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.
Mark Elliott
BBC Radio Stoke commentator
Image source, ShutterstockStoke City and Bristol City mustered only one shot on target between them as the stormy conditions at the bet365 Stadium dominated the game.
This one finished Stoke and Bristol City 0-1 Storm Boelo.
The weather might have won the day but a point for the Potters will feel like one gained if they can follow it up with a win against struggling Preston next week.
The wind played havoc with both teams' attempts to break the other down but it was a compliment to Stoke that the visitors changed to a back five and by the end only one team looked like they really wanted a winner.
The game was a learning curve for players like Luca Bombino who won't have encountered conditions like this too often in California and Stoke's other MLS import Jack McGlynn (pictured).
Losing Lamine Cisse to injury early in the game was a blow but Stoke carried enough of a threat to move on from this one with confidence intact.
Championship teams are judged on sequences of results and with three more fixtures to come, that look reasonably winnable on paper, they'll hope that this draw forms part of an unbeaten run in the same way the draw at Cardiff earlier in the season did.
Ged Scott
BBC Sport England
Image source, Jan Kruger -Getty Images)Stoke City boss Mark Robins was wrapped up in his full winter coat at the Bet 365 Stadium
Stoke City boss Mark Robins understandably blamed the weather for his side's comparatively poor showing as the effects of Storm Boelo led to the Potters' first goalless draw of the season.
"I can't be too critical and I don't want to be," he told BBC Radio Stoke, after the 0-0 stalemateat home to Bristol City. "I don't think it's warranted.
"It was really difficult. They've changed shape. They've come for a difficult game and then the weather made it doubly so. But, if you can't win, don't lose.
"When a team comes and sits like that, and it's the first time a team has come and done that, we've just got to take some learning from it.
"We move it in different areas and it becomes a bit samey and we don't learn from that. We've tried everything.
"From set plays we were dangerous. It looked like we were going to score from one of them. But, to be fair to them, they've thrown bodies in front when they needed to.
"We had total control of the ball, total control of the game, but an easy option on it. We've been in positions where we've taken a safe position to get on the ball rather than something a little bit more incisive.
"We've tried to do everything that we could to get a goal, but I didn't think we were good enough."
Image source, OptaIn-form Stoke City will hope to pick up their seventh Championship win in nine games when they host Bristol City on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 15:00 BST).
The Potters bounced back from a narrow late defeat to Middlesbrough with a 1-0 win at Derby County last time out and start the weekend within three points of the automatic promotion places.
Meanwhile, the 16th-placed Robins have won just one of their past six games (D1 L4) and have only scored three goals in that time.
After a run of five successive defeats between January 2019 and April 2023, Stoke City are unbeaten in their previous three home league games against Bristol City (W2 D1).
After winning their most recent league game against Stoke City, Bristol City will be looking for successive wins in this fixture for the first time since April 2022.
Stoke have won six of their past eight league games (D1 L1), with only West Ham United (20) collecting more points than the Potters in the Championship since the start of September (19).
Bristol City have lost their past two league games by 1-0 scorelines, they haven't lost three in a row without scoring since February 2021 (run of four).
Ethan Galbraith has assisted in three of his past four league games for Stoke, while he leads the Potters this season for league goal involvements (6).
Image source, ShutterstockLuke Graham won his first cap for Scotland against North Macedonia at the start of October
Stoke City centre-back Luke Graham said the squad will continue to "not look back" after turning round their difficult start to the Championship season in emphatic style.
The Potters began the league campaign with three defeats but have bounced back superbly with a run of six wins in their past eight games, with their only loss coming in added time against Middlesbrough.
That run has taken Mark Robins' side up to sixth place after 11 matches, as the club target a successful bid for promotion back to the Premier League after what would be nine years.
Summer signing Graham, 22, has been an increasingly impressive presence in Stoke's new-look back three and scored his first goal for the club in the 1-0 win at Derby on Saturday.
"For all the signings it was going to take a bit of time to adjust, especially having the system and coming in a few games after the [start of the] season, but as a group we adapted to that instantly really and I think we've not looked back since," Graham told BBC Radio Stoke.
"It's just about keeping that going, keeping my feet on the ground and knowing that I've still got to work hard because I've not made it, yet I've still got a long way to go in my career."
Since Robins switched to three central defenders after their 4-1 defeat by Wolves at the end of August, the Boro loss is the only blemish for Stoke, who have beaten Norwich, Charlton, Watford, Sheffield United and Bolton - the latter with 10 men - and drawn at Cardiff.
"That shows the kind of characters we've got in the dressing room," Graham said.
"It's real tight, there's a togetherness, it's like a big family so we know going into any game we're going to fight throughout.
"We've faced a lot of different styles of football and I think we've handled the role in just about every game, so it's just about keeping that consistency and not getting too far ahead of ourselves.
"We're loving it at the minute, the way that we're playing and the way that we're battling for each other."
Image source, ShutterstockLuke Graham has done nothing but improve since joining Stoke from Dundee in the summer.
His goal at Derby was his first for the club and a brilliant moment - but his work in his own box against a hugely physical Rams side was also incredibly impressive.
Graham wins a huge amount in the air and put in some really good blocks from the left side of the back three.
Over the past few months he has made the move to Stoke, become a regular in the side, picked up his first cap for Scotland, put on some size and looked more and more at home in a league that provides a significant step up from the Scottish top flight.
Graham is 22, left footed, 6ft 4ins (193cm tall) and showing immense potential as part of a collective that's growing together.
At Derby, they passed another couple of tests as a side looking to prove they belong in the play-off conversation.
Derby are a massive, direct, uncompromising team but they are struggling and Stoke went to the East Midlands with a small burden of expectation.
They were also looking to respond to a first defeat in some time with a win they will hope will begin another positive run of results.
They coped with all of the above, learned a few lessons and came away with the points which gives them 19 from their past eight games.
That's a phenomenal return from Graham and co, particularly given they are a team that is still developing.
After the events of last season, no Stoke fan will want to get too carried away but there is a huge amount to be optimistic about.
Stoke boss Mark Robins spoke to BBC Radio Stoke after their 1-0 win against Derby County.
For a written selection of his quotes, click here:
Robins: 'We've had to dig deep'
Robins: 'There's so many good signs'
Stoke City boss Mark Robins believes supporters are seeing positive signs from his team, built on an improved culture at the club.
The Potters are eighth in the Championship table with Tuesday's 3-2 defeat by Middlesbrough ending a six-game unbeaten run.
"There is so much to like and so much to be excited about. It's not just me saying that, you see that and the supporters are reflecting that and that's a real positive." Robins told BBC Radio Stoke.
"Even in the defeat, I thought we got stronger in it and it's about belief and having that understanding we're going to be good. We're good now but we're going to be good."
Stoke lost their opening three games of the season, having been beaten in five of their final six matches last season but Robins thinks a summer of recruitment and hard work behind the scenes is paying off.
"There are things the players understand have got to be habits and that's what the supporters are seeing which bodes well," he said.
"There are so many good signs, positive signs and we've got to keep building on that.
"The culture around the place has improved. We've got a way of doing things that is acceptable, that we want to see on a daily basis and that reflects in what we do every day and you can then do that on the football pitch."
The Potters visit struggling Derby County on Saturday (15:00 BST).
Listen to more Stoke City interviews and content on BBC Sounds.
Image source, OptaDerby will seek to kick-start their season when Stoke head to Pride Park on Saturday (15:00 BST).
The second-bottom Rams have taken just two points from their past six games and were humbled 4-1 at QPR on Wednesday night, while they remain winless at home, drawing two and losing four of their six matches in all competitions.
The in-form Potters suffered a last-gasp 3-2 defeat at home to Middlesbrough on Tuesday, having taken 16 points from their six previous matches, but remain eighth and within striking distance of the top three.
Derby are unbeaten in six home league games against Stoke (W3 D3) since a 0-2 defeat in February 2007.
Stoke have scored just one goal in their past six league visits to Derby, Tom Ince netting in a 2-1 defeat in September 2021.
Derby have been in losing position in their Championship matches this season for 50.3% of the time – the second-worst return in the competition, behind only Watford (52.1%).
Stoke have won each of their past two away league games, and will be looking to win three in succession on their travels for the first time since December 2005 (run of four wins).
So far during the 2026-27 Championship season, Derby remain the only side yet to score from a set piece (incl. penalties), while only four sides have conceded more set piece goals than the Rams (5).
Ged Scott and Mark Elliott
BBC Sport England
Image source, ShutterstockStoke defender Ben Wilmot coped well with Championship top scorer Will Lankshear for most of the night against Middlesbrough
Stoke City defender Ben Wilmot is confident the Potters can bounce straight back from suffering their first defeat in almost two months.
After starting the season with three straight Championship losses, Mark Robins' men had responded superbly with a run of 16 points out of a possible 18.
Middlesbrough's injury-time winner at the Bet365 Stadium on Tuesday brought that to a cruel end - but Stoke now face the Championship's current bottom two in their next three matches.
And Wilmot says they will be motivated by the way they performed against Boro.
"The positive is that we put in a good performance and shouldn't have lost," he told BBC Radio Stoke. "And I'm sure we'll soon get back to winning ways.
"We're young and we're learning but we're still full of confidence. We were good value for at least a point.
"We took our time to get into the game. They dominated the ball in the first half without creating loads, which we were fine with, but we knew we needed to get more of the ball, which we did second half.
"It was then the little moments that cost us in the second half and that's disappointing."
Saturday's trip to Potters old boy John Eustace's Derby is their next test, followed by home games on successive Saturdays - Bristol City, then the visit of bottom club Preston North End.
