Stoke City

There is nothing riding on this game (12:30 BST) other than both teams trying to send their fans into the summer with something to smile about.

Bristol City can no longer secure a top-10 finish while Stoke, having spent the first-half of the season challenging for a play-off place will end the campaign in the bottom half of the table.

• Bristol City won this exact fixture last season 2-0, but have not won back-to-back home league games against Stoke since March 1959.

• Stoke have won three of their past five league meetings with Bristol City (D1 L1), more than their previous nine beforehand (W2 D1 L6).

• Bristol City have only won their final league game in one of the past 10 seasons (D3 L6), winning 2-0 at QPR in 2022-23.

• Stoke City have only lost their final league game in one of the past 14 seasons (W8 D5), losing 2-0 at Watford in 2022-23.

• Stoke are guaranteed to have a bottom-half finish in the Championship for an eighth consecutive season – since 2018-19, they are one of eight ever-present Championship teams and they have the fewest points of those eight (448).

Mark Elliott
BBC Radio Stoke commentator

Image source, Shutterstock

At the end of the final home game of the season, Stoke's players were sent out to do a lap of appreciation, honouring the fans, and were faced with row upon row of empty red seats.

The supporters have stuck with their team admirably this season, but over the last few weeks patience that was wearing thin has been worn through.

The performance against Portsmouth was abject, lacking enthusiasm, energy, desire and resolve from more than a handful of players in red and white.

After the game manager Mark Robins said players would be "cut loose."

Damningly, he added that Stoke "need to move people on who are mercenary, don't want to train and don't want to work hard."

Robins reiterated again that the club has a lot of work to do and fans are again staring down a summer during which one failed project will be torn down and another one put in place, all in the space of three or four months.

He has repeatedly said that greater physicality will be a priority and promised significant change and a focus on players with the right mindset to compete.

Everyone associated to Stoke will hope it's ninth time lucky for a club stuck in Championship purgatory.

Stoke City boss Mark Robins spoke BBC Radio Stoke after Saturday's 3-1 defeat by Portsmouth.

"It was a really slow performance from both teams and we were poor," he said.

"From start to finish we lacked energy, lacked enthusiasm and know-how. It was a really poor way to end the season [at home].

"There were times where we think we are running and working hard, but there is not enough in that team to win football matches consistently at the level.

"It was one of those lacklustre performances that you get on a really warm day, but to finish the season you've got to go and run.

"Honestly, we talk about things and its rhetoric then and it doesn't mean anything. I'm disappointed, clearly."

Image source, Opta

Stoke will seek to halt their slide down the Championship table when Portsmouth visit on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The Potters occupied the second automatic promotion place in late November but have slipped down to 17th, picking up just three wins in their past 18 games.

The four sides immediately above them remain within three points, however.

Portsmouth's survival was ensured on Tuesday night, despite a 5-1 defeat at Coventry, as Oxford's defeat to Wrexham left the Blues safe with two games remaining.

• Stoke City have won four of their past five league meetings with Portsmouth (L1), just one fewer than their previous 20 prior (W5 D8 L7).

• Portsmouth are winless in seven league visits to Stoke (D2 L5) since a 2-0 triumph in February 1995 under Terry Fenwick.

• Stoke have only won their final home league game in two of the past nine seasons (D2 L5), beating Brentford 1-0 in 2019-20 and Bristol City 4-0 in 2023-24.

• Portsmouth have only won their final away game in one of their past eight second tier seasons (D2 L5), beating Bradford City 5-0 in 2002-03.

• Stoke have lost their past two Championship matches; only once this season have they lost three on the spin, doing so from November to December.

Mark Elliot
BBC Radio Stoke's Stoke City commentator

Image source, Getty Images

Another game closer to the end of the season and another defeat which gave Stoke City a close look at the most popular recipe for success in the Championship.

Take a consistent goalkeeper, add outfield players with strength, athleticism, power and reliability on the ball and garnish with a couple of individuals with match-winning quality who can offer something different and you're almost there.

Mix into a shape that gets players forward in numbers whilst retaining defensive solidity, bake for 46 games and you will be there or thereabouts.

Coventry, Millwall, Middlesbrough and Wrexham are all in the top six, none has the financial advantage of parachute payments and each team has most if not all of the characteristics listed above.

Stoke are missing the physicality, athleticism and reliability in possession and at times over the past few weeks some players in red and white have also lacked a bit of desire.

To be competitive at the top end of the division next season, they will need to add plenty of all of that to a squad about to undergo another significant transformation.

Stoke City boss Mark Robins spoke to BBC Radio Stoke after his side's 3-1 defeat to Millwall:

"Two mistakes. They started off quite brightly as you'd expect – they're going for the top two.

"We were OK and then we contrived to beat ourselves.

"They haven't done anything to hurt us. We must be the only team in the division that gives away goals now.

"Before we were hard to beat, we were hard to score against and it's just changed around.

"But from my perspective we made changes, we got a little bit of a foothold, we got a goal back, we looked like we could go on and grab something."

Image source, Opta

Millwall will seek to keep up the pace in the automatic promotion race as they head to Stoke on Tuesday night (19:45 BST).

The Lions returned to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over QPR on Saturday and could return to second place, three points ahead of Ipswich, if Alex Neil can continue his fine winning record against his former club.

The Tractor Boys, who visit Charlton on Wednesday, would however have two games in hand on Millwall and a vastly superior goal difference.

The Potters are already safe and though they have picked up just a point from their past three games, Mark Robins' side are unbeaten in six at the Bet365, earning 12 points and scoring 13 goals.

• Stoke have won just one of their past 14 league games against Millwall (D5 L8), a 2-0 home win in March 2022. The Potters have failed to score in 10 of these 14 games.

• Millwall have won five of their past seven league games against Stoke (D2), conceding just one goal in these seven matches.

• Stoke are unbeaten in home league games since the start of February (W3 D3); they last recorded a longer unbeaten run in their final seven home league matches in 2018-19 (W1 D6).

• Millwall are unbeaten in their past seven away league games (W5 D2), their longest run since April 2018 (run of nine), while their 37 points on the road this season is their most since 2015-16 in the third tier (39).

• Former Stoke manager Alex Neil has won six of his past seven league games against the Potters (L1), including both while in charge of Millwall.

Mark Elliott
BBC Radio Stoke's Stoke City commentator

Image source, Getty Images

After another defeat at Wrexham, Mark Robins set out exactly what he wants from the summer transfer window and players who come in will need to have the physicality and reliability to compete in the Championship over a full season.

He said he, the club's ownership and recruitment team have a lot of work to do to create a squad full of players with those characteristics, in addition to the quality required to improve on a season during which they've struggled in front of goal.

Stoke finished the game with two wingers at full-back and an attacking full-back at centre-half, partnered by an 18-year-old making his professional debut.

They also finished the game with more injuries to defenders to contend with at the end of a season defined by injuries to key players all over the pitch.

Wrexham scored two goals in two minutes, one straight from a corner and one after a mistake from Aaron Cresswell.

Both goals were poor from a Stoke perspective but the Potters had chances of their own and plenty of the game.

In the end, poor decision-making or execution in the final third, and an inability to match Wrexham's strength, dismissed any hopes of a comeback.

Those are the themes of the season and exactly the issues that will need resolving over the summer.

Boss Mark Robins spoke to BBC Radio Stoke following his side's 2-0 Championship defeat by Wrexham.

"In general we weren't in any danger, we looked like we were okay from back to front but we make the wrong decision, either the wrong touch or we try to take people on.

"The supporters are frustrated, I'm frustrated and there's plenty of work for us to do in the summer.

"Two moments in a game from a corner and some inexplicable circumstances is the disappointment of today but that was coming because we didn't win tackles or duels and the ball was turned over too many times."

"It was a really poor performance in terms of chances created and trying to take them, plus the two goals we gave away were just hideous."

Stoke are 17th in the table and at home to second-placed Millwall on Tuesday evening.

Image source, Opta

Stoke City will hope to officially confirm their status as a Championship club for another season when they visit Wrexham on Saturday (kick-off 15:00 BST).

The Potters are 11 points clear of the relegation zone with four games to play and need a win to guarantee survival - or for either Blackburn to lose or Oxford to fail to win.

The Red Dragons are looking for a victory to keep them in the hunt for a play-off place as they start the weekend four points behind sixth-placed Hull City.

• Wrexham have lost 12 of their 13 league games against Stoke, with a 3-1 away win in February 1999 the only exception.

• Stoke have won all six of their away league games against Wrexham, with this their first visit since November 2001. It's the joint-best 100% away win rate one side has against another in English Football League history (Northampton also 6/6 at Dagenham & Redbridge).

• Wrexham have lost their past two league games, and could lose three in a row for the first time since February 2024 when they were in League Two.

• Stoke are on a five-game losing run away from home in the Championship, and have not lost six consecutive away league games since between January and March 2013, when they were in the Premier League.

• Josh Windass has netted 12 league goals for Wrexham this season, just one shy of equalling his most in a single Championship campaign (13 in 44 games for Sheffield Wednesday in 2024-25).

"Everyone's got one eye on next season now but we're still using these last few games to go: right let's test a few people, see what we can find out.

"The season's had that many ups and downs, it's really difficult to judge the team. It could be worse but they were in such a good position going into November, it does still feel a little bit like a missed opportunity."

This week on A Cold Wet Tuesday Night, Lucas Yeomans and Gareth Owen assess Stoke City's season following the 1-1 home draw with Blackburn Rovers and look to the future, before discussing the quality of the defence and how the squad might look next season.

Listen to more episodes of A Cold Wet Tuesday Night on BBC Sounds.

Mark Elliott
BBC Radio Stoke commentator

Image source, Shutterstock

Everything about this game screamed April.

The wind blew a gale while the sun shone and the rain poured and a huge rainbow wrapped around the stadium.

Amongst all of that Stoke played a game that felt meaningless but did shine a light on how much there is to address this summer.

Of the team that started, Gavin Bazunu, Ashley Phillips and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi are on loan, Lewis Baker is out of contract in the summer and Ben Gibson, Ben Pearson, Million Manhoef and Sam Gallagher are about to enter the final year of theirs.

The same can be said of first team regulars Victor Johansson, Junior Tchamadeu, Tatsuki Seko, Bae Junho and, assuming the club trigger an additional year built into his agreement, Ben Wilmot.

Veterans Aaron Cresswell and Steven Nzonzi see their contracts end this summer too, bringing the total number of first team players who are tied to the club for 15 months or less to 15.

If the club can't tie Johansson and Tchamadeu down to longer deals, they may have to sell them despite not wanting to.

Decisions on the other players are more nuanced and complicated but Stoke would surely want a fee for players like Junho and Manhoef while they still retain value if either side in each case favours a parting of the ways.

It looks like a full rebuild could be on the way once you consider that recent signings Maksym Talovierov, Tomas Rigo, Lamine Cisse, Robert Bozenik and Milan Smit who make up the bulk of the group tied to the club long term are all yet to convince manager Mark Robins of their ability to start and contribute consistently.

Sorba Thomas and Bosun Lawal are probably the only two obviously key players signed until 2028.

There is an opportunity within all this to add what Stoke have lacked this season. A clearer identity, attacking threat and greater physicality.

Progress has been made this season with the current squad but it may be a very different group of players tasked with taking the club to the next level.

Image source, Getty Images

Stoke City manager Mark Robins told BBC Radio Stoke: "We started off not great because the conditions were really difficult.

"I said before we had to be patient. Michael O'Neill was going to come and make sure Blackburn push every button they possibly can to make sure we frustrate the crowd because we don't move the ball enough.

"We want to try and be brave. There are positional things that happen that don't feel comfortable, but you have to be uncomfortable at times.

"First half, we didn't do enough, so we gave them some impetus. Their goal, we didn't get the press right at all, you've got to win your duels. Those are the non-negotiables.

"What I was pleased about was we kept playing and we got the equaliser. I thought we were well worthy of it and were the only team trying to win it."

Stoke City's players need to learn how to accept criticism if they are to be successful, according to head coach Mark Robins.

The Potters were fourth in the Championship table at the start of December, just three points off the automatic promotion places, but they have won only six of their subsequent 23 games to slip to 13th place, 12 points adrift of the top six.

"It's been a season of great promise to start with and then real disappointment," Robins told BBC Radio Stoke.

"Everybody talks about that position we're in, being mid-table obscurity, and no-one wants that. The emotions in mid-table are totally different, so we need to be at the top end of the division.

"I don't want to be at the bottom end of the division and we're not, but that's scant consolation for the promise the season showed at the start. So the disappointment is there and it's tangible for everybody."

Stoke were beaten 2-0 at Derby County on Monday, and Robins is hoping his players can react the right way to the criticism which followed that performance when they host Blackburn Rovers on Saturday (15:00 BST).

"We speak about ego, where if you get criticism nowadays it's difficult for people to take on board, but like I said at the end of the game, 'Suck it up'. Understand what is going on, understand what your part of the bargain is, and deliver. That's our job.

"It gives me a lot of information of how people cope in certain situations. When everything is going great everyone is alright, but people react in different ways under pressure, and it's something people need to learn to deal with - we've got five games left and I want to win all five of them."

Listen to more Stoke City content and interviews on BBC Sounds.