Stoke & Staffordshire

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  1. 'Our first penalty of the season' - Robins

    Mark RobinsShutterstock

    Stoke City boss Mark Robins spoke to BBC Radio Stoke following their last-gasp 3-3 draw against Ipswich Town.

    "We were brilliant in the first half, transition moments really good, average age of 23, good performances all throughout the team, they were really aggressive and we gave them a lot of problems.

    "We didn't really give them anything - they played with the wind in the first half and we played against it - and when we came in at half-time I said 'well done, (we want) more of the same.

    "We know the wind is going to be against them, we can't drop too deep, we've got do the same things, keep putting pressure on them and use the ball well, but all the things that are pre-requisites for us, we didn't do.

    "To go 3-2 down was really disappointing. (But) Lamine Cisse gets thrown to the ground, it may look a little bit soft but it's our first penalty of the season, Smudge shows good technique and good courage and gains us a point after it looked like we'd snatched defeat from the jaws of victory."

  2. National League ball

  3. A partially-demolished building. Bricks and debris are scattered in the foreground while the interior of the partly-knocked down building is visible.

  4. A woman wearing a white jumper sitting down in the BBC Radio Stoke studio.

  5. Two mugshots - on the left is a man with short, wavy brown hair with a beard, a tattoo on his neck and a grey top. On the right is a woman with long hair - half blonde, half black - and wearing a nose ring and a grey top.

  6. A black and white picture of a smiling woman with tied-back dark hair and earrings.

  7. Injuries have derailed Stoke's season - Tchamadeu

    Tchamadeu: 'I was itching to be back on the pitch'

    Stoke City defender Junior Tchamadeu is looking for more match minutes against Ipswich Town on Tuesday (20:00 GMT) after making his first appearance for the Potters in 2026 in the 2-0 loss to Swansea City.

    The Cameroon international has been unable to play a full 90 minutes since suffering a significant knee injury at the Africa Cup of Nations in January, but came on to replace Eric Bocat in the 70th minute at the Swansea.com Stadium.

    "It's always tough when you're missing games through injury. I was itching to be back on the pitch with the boys," Tchamadeu told BBC Radio Stoke.

    "The biggest thing for me was to not rush myself back, especially because with the injury I had you have to get it right and you don't want any relapses and you don't want to come back too early and [injure] it again.

    "Thankfully I'm back available."

    Before the injury, Tchamadeu appeared in every game in the Championship for Stoke City, playing the full 90 minutes in all bar a 0-0 draw with Middlesbrough in September.

    Stoke were seventh in the Championship and a point from the play-off places the last time the 22-year-old started, but have since slipped down to 15th.

    "It's frustrating but I wouldn't say I'm surprised because we've had a lot of injuries to a lot of players who were playing at the beginning [of the season]," Tchamadeu added.

    "But to go from where we were last season to where we are now in terms of performances. I feel like we've made a massive improvement."

    The Potters host Ipswich Town having only won one of their past 10 league games. Victory and three points could boost them up to 10th position.

    "The last 10 games, we've got to stick together and try and get every result," Tchamadeu said.

    Listen to the full interview with Junior Tchamadeu and more Stoke City on BBC Sounds.

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  8. A woman takes a selfie of herself smiling. She has long black hair, with earphones in her ears and is wearing a white fluffy jacket over a blue top.

  9. A man with a bushy beard and a waxed pointy moustache is looking at the camera. He is wearing a black top

  10. A large grey building with a red sign in the corner that says Staffordshire University.

  11. A close-up of the Staffordshire Police badge on the side of a building. It is a several-pointed star with a round circle in the middle.

  12. A Google street view image of a main road with a large green sign on the left denoting a roundabout. Cars can be seen driving both ways.

  13. A general view of the the front entrance and courtyard outside Stafford Crown Court. The building has a rounded corner of red brick with the words "Crown Court" and "County Court" on it, underneath a metal sculpture of the monarch's crest.

  14. A woman holding a black and white racing flag and a football shirt stands in the stands of a large stadium. A football pitch can be seen behind her.

  15. A vehicle lifts up a metal statue of a steel worker with its crane. A worker can be seen operating the crane on the right.

  16. A cordon in place and several police vehicles parked at the entrance to a railway station's car park.

  17. A school classroom, with a close-up of a stationary pot full of pens, scissors, pencils etc. The background, which is blurred, shows pupil with blue tops sitting at their desks.

  18. Port Vale players celebrate their goal against Sunderland in front of a TV camera operator

  19. Pick of the stats: Stoke City v Ipswich Town

    The Stoke City and Ipswich Town club badges side by side. Stoke's has red and white stripes with the words Stoke City at the top and 1863 at the bottom. Ipswich have a horse with a hoof on a ball drawn in white on a blue background

    Ipswich have slipped five points behind the automatic promotion places in the Championship but have taken 10 points from a possible 12 in their past four matches.

    Stoke have managed only five points from their past six outings with their solitary win coming against Oxford which means they are now 10 points short of the top six going into this game on Tuesday (20:00 GMT).

    • Stoke have failed to score in their past three league games against Ipswich (D1 L2), with their two defeats in that run as many as they had suffered in their previous 16 against the Tractor Boys.

    • Following their 1-0 win in December, Ipswich are looking to complete the league double over Stoke for the first time since 1987-88.

    • Stoke won 2-1 against Oxford in their last home league game, but have not won consecutively at the bet365 Stadium since November.

    • Ipswich have alternated between victory (3) and defeat (2) in their past five away league games, beating Watford 2-0 last time out.

    • Stoke boss Mark Robins has lost each of his past five Championship games against Ipswich Town – twice with Huddersfield (2013-14), twice with Coventry (2023-24) and earlier this season with the Potters.

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  20. A man in a pink hoodie stood in front of a brown bottle kiln. He's wearing a short and blue and white apron

  21. An old grainy picture of a man and woman doing ballroom dancing in front of a crowd.

  22. A38 motorway with cars on the road, with a grass verge to the left and a sign saying Birmingham A38 with directions to M6 toll, Brownhills (A5), Burton and Derby (A38)

  23. Police cars and a police van and cordon outside the station. At the front of the picture, a police car with blue and yellow markings is positioned and there are traffic cones on the ground. Four police officers are also in the picture.

  24. 'Dreadful run of injuries decisive in Stoke decline'

    Mark Elliott
    BBC Radio Stoke commentator

    Mark RobinsGetty Images

    "Here we go again," lamented Mark Robins as Stoke picked up more injuries in South Wales.

    Eric Bocat is their only fit left-back and left the game, as did captain Ben Wilmot.

    Junior Tchamadeu did return after a lengthy spell on the sidelines but by the time he came on as a second-half substitute, the game was slipping away.

    The red card Sorba Thomas received in the first half was key but Stoke conceded two poor goals and continue to slide down the table.

    It will take all of Robins' experience to turn around a run of results that's seen them take just 20 points from 22 league games since earning 27 from their first 14.

    That's almost half a season averaging less than a point a game, which can be classed as relegation form in most seasons.

    The start to the campaign showed what Stoke can be and a dreadful run of injuries has certainly been a decisive factor in their decline.

    Having said that, performance levels have dropped below what's required too often and injuries were not at fault for Zan Vipotnik's easy header from a Swansea corner that gave them the lead.

    He is the danger man and the situation should have been defended better.

    Injuries can't be blamed for some poor decision-making and execution in the final third either, an all too common theme this season.

    Stoke have been really unlucky with the injuries and the luck they've had in some of those 22 games but that isn't the whole story.