GARY Rowett has warned that he believes Stoke City are in a false position in the Sky Bet Championship table.
The Potters are 19th in the division, just two points above the bottom three, and welcome Oxford United tomorrow afternoon while licking their wounds from a heavy defeat in midweek.
Mark Robins’ side were beaten 3-1 at Portsmouth on Wednesday night, and have won just one Championship game in their last 14 matches.
Robins became the third Potters boss of the season, following Steven Schumacher and Narcis Pelach, on January 1, and oversaw two draws prior to the Pompey defeat.
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Rowett had a brief stint with the Potters, having been appointed manager in May 2018 following the club’s relegation from the Premier League, but was sacked in January 2019 with the club sitting 14th in the Championship table.
“I don’t think any game you can predict what’s going to happen. All you can do is make sure you’re ready,” said Rowett.
“You have to see every team that you play against as potentially a top team or potentially having a top performance.
“Stoke are a big club. My expectation of them this season, and still is that they’ll end up in a much better position than they’re in now.
“We’ve got to make sure we don’t allow that run of form to begin. It’s up to us to do what we need to do, but Mark is an experienced manager, and he knows the division.
“He’ll know what he wants from his team and how he wants to build his team, so it’ll be a tough test.”
Rowett added: “Every game is a different challenge. Stoke away is never an easy game. It’ll be a good atmosphere there and they’ll be desperately wanting their team to step up and go on that run that takes them out of the area they’re in at the moment.
“We were in that same position not long ago, so we know how quickly it can turn around.
“They’ve got a really experienced manager in Mark Robins. I don’t expect anything that you wouldn’t expect when you go to a club like that and when you go and play against a team like that.
“It’ll be a very tough test for us away from home again, and what we’ve got to do is keep trying to build performances and try to find different ways to get different results. I’m not expecting an easy game at all.”
The U’s head to the bet365 Stadium enjoying a run of seven Championship games unbeaten since Rowett was appointed head coach.
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About the author
Liam is the sports reporter for the Oxford Mail, primarily focusing on Oxford United.
He joined in November 2019 as a news reporter, and has previously covered patches including West Oxfordshire, education and local politics.
Liam received a Masters in Journalism from UCLan and can be found on X through the handle @OxMailLiamRice