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.
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.
