B Team Preview: Stoke vs Saints

THE MATCH
Stoke City vs Saints
Premier League 2
St George’s Park
Friday 19th August, 7pm BST
FREE entry

It’s been a successful start to the Premier League 2 season for Dave Horseman’s side, winning both of their opening two fixtures.

Their last outing saw a return to Snows Stadium, seeing off tough opposition in West Brom with a resounding 4-1 win.

Dom Ballard continued his prolific start to the season with another brace, whilst Matt Carson and Ryan Finnigan added to the scoring.

Friday’s opponents Stoke, who made the play-offs last season, have only played once so far this season, coming away from Newcastle with a 1-0 victory on Monday. Ben Kershaw with the only goal after six minutes.

LAST MEETING
Saints and Stoke last came to blows back in early December, where a strong Potters side saw off a resilient B team side.

The likes of Thierry Small, Kazeem Olaigbe and Caleb Watts lined up for Horseman’s side, who came up against Sam Surridge, D’Margio Wright-Phillips and Lewis Macari for the hosts.

Experience told for the home side, who came away with a 3-0 win at their training ground; Abdallah Sima with a brace and Surridge with the clincher.

MANAGER’S NOTES

“It’s another tough game this one,” said Horseman. “We’ve played West Brom who won the PL Cup, [Nottingham] Forest who made the play-offs and Stoke who beat Forest in the play-offs.

“We’ve had a tough start but there are a few good teams in our league this year. We’ll go up and play at St George’s Park which is a great venue to play at.

“Normally they put a couple of senior players in, last year they were loaded with Championship players. That’s what this group needs to see where they are in their journey.

“We need to be challenged to the maximum, then we’ll understand what we need to work on to make them the best they can be.”