Stoke & Staffordshire

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Watch our pick of standout clips from Stoke and Staffordshire

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  1. Several bins filled to the brim lined up at the side of a road.

  2. A black and yellow Avanti west coast train parked in a station

  3. Gossip: Stoke's Drameh move could collapse

    BBC Sport's gossip column banner

    Stoke City's move for Hull City full-back Cody Drameh, 24, could fall through due to his fitness. (The72)

    Millwall are reportedly rivalling Stoke and Preston North End to sign veteran midfielder Barry Bannan from Sheffield Wednesday, but Owls boss Henrik Pedersen is hopeful the 36-year-old will stay at the club. (Edinburgh Evening News)

    Stoke and Swansea City are battling Celtic for the signing of Crystal Palace winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, 23, who is on loan at Turkish Super Lig club Caykur Rizespor having spent last season with Sheffield United. (Celts Are Here)

    Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Monday's gossip column here.

    Tap the notification bell to get news about your club sent to you if you're on the app. Hit 'follow' to stay up to date if you're signed in on a browser.

  4. Injuries threatening Stoke's stellar season

    Mark Elliott
    BBC Radio Stoke’s Stoke City commentator

    Divin Mubama holding his arms out looking exasperated with a blurred image of the crowd in the backgroundGetty Images

    Stoke City are well overdue some luck.

    Just as Eric Bocat made his return to the matchday squad to ease an injury crisis that had left them without a fit full-back, the Potters lost every recognised striker in their ranks.

    Robert Bozenik was already out after a shoulder surgery when injury-plagued Sam Gallagher suffered another setback ruling him out of another game.

    Then a horrible tackle from QPR captain Jimmy Dunne sent Divin Mubama to hospital with a suspected broken leg.

    It's a terrible shame for on-loan Manchester City forward Mubama, who has been working hard to try to make the best of his first season of senior men's football, and Stoke fans will now wonder whether they'll see him in red and white again.

    It was even more frustrating, coming as it did in a game peppered with poor challenges from an Rs team intent on spoiling and happy to take a point.

    They were overly physical, determined to waste as much time as they could and devoid of any attacking ambition - a sad shadow of a club with such a proud history of fielding teams with a commitment to entertain.

    Stoke were dominant but couldn't find the goal that would have given them the victory they deserved statistically and morally, despite creating some good chances.

    Now, two points off the play-offs in seventh, they go into a game against Middlesbrough in midweek desperate for reinforcements that PSR constraints heavily restrict their ability to find.

    Injuries are threatening to spoil an amazing season but a fourth successive clean sheet offers hope and a brilliant foundation on which to build.

    What they can do in what's left of the transfer window now takes on added importance.

  5. A man wearing a navy suit and tie with pink, navy and white stripes stands in the street.

  6. A stock image of the roof of a blue taxi with a "TAXI" light illuminated on it

  7. A man with a stubbly beard and short brown hair is standing at a window overlooking the River Thames and the Houses of Parliament.

  8. A man with brown hair, a grey suit and pale grey tie with standing in front of a sandstone building.

  9. One woman and two men wearing dark jackets and in inflatables costumes, looking like they are the backs of a reindeer, gingerbread man and a Santa. The people all standing in front of a yellow and white car

  10. A black and white image of three soldiers. The man on the left and man in the middle are wearing army combat uniforms and the man on right is wearing a cap and ceremonial uniform with a shirt and tie.

  11. A grey squirrel with a large grey tail sits amid snow with its paws to its mouth.

  12. Stoke are like a brick wall, but need more in attack

    Sam Fletcher
    BBC Final Score reporter

    Mark RobinsGetty Images

    Stoke are seventh in the Championship under Mark Robins

    Stoke have the best defence in the league, only 23 goals have made it past them so far this season.

    Injured goalkeeper Viktor Johansson has received a lot of praise for this statistic but watching the team without him, I think the back four deserve equal plaudits.

    They are like a brick wall. Watching on, you have confidence that they will win duels, chase down every ball and keep fighting until the last breath.

    They left very little for new goalkeeper, Southampton loanee Gavin Bazunu, to do on his Stoke debut and it's now four clean sheets in four.

    However, a great defence doesn't win games or help lift Stoke back into the play-offs.

    If the attack can match the defence, they'll be near unbeatable but after one of their strikers Divin Mubama was stretchered off against QPR, there may be work to do.

  13. I've got to find a way of patching the team up - Robins

    Robins: 'I'm incredibly proud of the players'

    Mark Robins was pleased with his Stoke City side's efforts during their 0-0 draw with fellow Championship promotion hopefuls Queens Park Rangers - but he was angered by the challenge which he fears has left striker Divin Mubama with a broken leg.

    Mubama, on loan from Manchester City, was stretchered off in the early stages of the second half after being on the receiving end of a challenge from Hoops defender Jimmy Dunne, who was booked for his troubles.

    Robins described the tackle as a 'terrible' one and although he was heartened by his side's showing, he indicated that his thin squad must be aided in the transfer window.

    He told BBC Radio Stoke: "I'm incredibly proud of the players. I thought they gave us everything again.

    "The support was outstanding, they got right behind the team the whole way through. There are things I'm frustrated with that I can't talk about, but everyone will know what I'm talking about.

    "With Divin, it looks like a broken ankle, or broken fibula. It was just a terrible, terrible tackle. There were some blatantly poor decisions.

    "I feel aggrieved it's ended up 0-0 in a game that was disrupted by them in a number of ways. How teams can get away with that in this day and age is beyond me.

    "I'm really frustrated because, again, they've given everything, we've created chances, we're down to the bare bones and now we've got a broken leg.

    "We need some help, which is easier said than done, but I've got to find a way of patching the team up and getting them out on Wednesday."

  14. Truro v Tamworth

  15. Queens Park Rangers defender Amadou Mbengue and Stoke City attacker Lamine Cisse fight for the ball

  16. A white totem on a patch of grass alongside a car park with a building and parked cars in the background. There are trees along the verge in the foreground to the left hand side of the image.

  17. A woman wearing a red jumper holds an autograph album. The album features signatures from members of the Beatles, as well as photographs.

  18. Betty Webb

  19. A trio of photos combined in a composite - on the left is a pink colour on the sky coming from a football stadium in a city; In the middle is man with medium length hair and his mouth open next to a microphone and on the left, two brown-feathered chickens standing in a green grassed field

  20. Tamworth sign Norwich winger Forbes on 28-day loan

    Brandon Forbes with the ball at his feet for Norwich City in pre-season game against Northampton TownGetty Images

    Brandon Forbes signed for Norwich from Dundee United in August 2024

    Tamworth have signed Norwich City winger Brandon Forbes on a 28-day loan agreement.

    The 19-year-old joined the Canaries from Scottish Premiership side Dundee United ahead of the 2024-25 season.

    He is yet to feature for the Norwich first team but did score on his United debut in the Scottish League Cup against Ayr shortly before his move to Carrow Road.

    Forbes joins The Lambs with the club in mid-table, seven points shy of the play-off places.

  21. Port Vale manager Job Brady acclaims the crowd after a win

  22. Three people at the back of a van filled with Christmas trees look to the camera, smiling. They are wearing dark clothes with orange high-vis jackets on. There are more Christmas trees on the ground

  23. The view onto the pitch from the stands of a large football ground. The seats are red, with Stoke City picked out in white on the opposite side stand

  24. Gary Bowyer looks across to his bench while on the sideline for Burton Albion