Injury boost for Stoke City heading into Derby County clash..Team news from Clayton Wood as Stoke City prepare for a Championship decider against Derby County..
Junior Tchamadeu is fine and Ben Pearson is back in training as Stoke City prepare for a big final game of the season against Derby County (Saturday, 12.30pm).
Right-back Tchamadeu limped out of the final few minutes against Sheffield United last Friday night but has been good to go this week in preparations for the trip to Pride Park.
Midfielder Pearson hobbled out in the first half of the same game and is hoping he can be involved too in a match when a point will guarantee Stoke’s Championship status.
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A draw would be enough to keep Derby safe too unless all three of Preston North End, Luton Town and Hull City are winning away at Bristol City, West Bromwich Albion and Portsmouth respectively. There is a long list of permutations for what is sure to be a dramatic afternoon.
Robins was calm but upbeat at his pre-match press conference and it looking forward to the chance to complete the task he took on when he was appointed manager in January.
He said: “I’m feeling all right, I don’t have to play! I think, really, just embrace the situation. We know what we’ve got to do, we’ve got to try to get a result and that’s what we aim to do in everything game, nothing changes except the circumstances around it and we can’t think about that beyond what we have to do against a really strong challenge in Derby County.
“Since John Eustace has gone in there, the 4-0 defeat at QPR obviously gave him enough information to change and do the things that he has done to help them become successful as they have been. They’ve been fantastic, they’ve got a way of playing that has given them a real chance and they’re out of the bottom three going into the last game of the season.
“It’s interesting at the bottom of the table. There’s a lot of pressure down there and it won’t be a single club feeling it, it’ll be a few.
“For us going into this game it’s a real opportunity. We’ve said it for the three games – seven points clear going into the last three games and obviously that hasn’t been enough. We’ve got to make sure we do the job. We’ve got to do the job that is there for us to do.
“Training has been good this week. Injuries are ok actually, we’re in a pretty healthy position going into this game and we’re looking forward to it regardless of circumstances. That’s what we train to do, to go out and finish this job off with the help of the sold out away section.”
Sol Sidibe played for the under-21s this week after three months out with a back injury but Enda Stevens, Eric Bocat, Jordan Thompson and Michael Rose are expected to miss out. Thompson is expected to spent six to eight weeks in recovery due to the ankle injury he picked up in a Good Friday win over Sheffield Wednesday.
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