Stoke City

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Stoke City centre-back Luke Graham said the squad will continue to "not look back" after turning round their difficult start to the Championship season in emphatic style.

The Potters began the league campaign with three defeats but have bounced back superbly with a run of six wins in their past eight games, with their only loss coming in added time against Middlesbrough.

That run has taken Mark Robins' side up to sixth place after 11 matches, as the club target a successful bid for promotion back to the Premier League after what would be nine years.

Summer signing Graham, 22, has been an increasingly impressive presence in Stoke's new-look back three and scored his first goal for the club in the 1-0 win at Derby on Saturday.

"For all the signings it was going to take a bit of time to adjust, especially having the system and coming in a few games after the [start of the] season, but as a group we adapted to that instantly really and I think we've not looked back since," Graham told BBC Radio Stoke.

"It's just about keeping that going, keeping my feet on the ground and knowing that I've still got to work hard because I've not made it, yet I've still got a long way to go in my career."

Since Robins switched to three central defenders after their 4-1 defeat by Wolves at the end of August, the Boro loss is the only blemish for Stoke, who have beaten Norwich, Charlton, Watford, Sheffield United and Bolton - the latter with 10 men - and drawn at Cardiff.

"That shows the kind of characters we've got in the dressing room," Graham said.

"It's real tight, there's a togetherness, it's like a big family so we know going into any game we're going to fight throughout.

"We've faced a lot of different styles of football and I think we've handled the role in just about every game, so it's just about keeping that consistency and not getting too far ahead of ourselves.

"We're loving it at the minute, the way that we're playing and the way that we're battling for each other."

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Luke Graham has done nothing but improve since joining Stoke from Dundee in the summer.

His goal at Derby was his first for the club and a brilliant moment - but his work in his own box against a hugely physical Rams side was also incredibly impressive.

Graham wins a huge amount in the air and put in some really good blocks from the left side of the back three.

Over the past few months he has made the move to Stoke, become a regular in the side, picked up his first cap for Scotland, put on some size and looked more and more at home in a league that provides a significant step up from the Scottish top flight.

Graham is 22, left footed, 6ft 4ins (193cm tall) and showing immense potential as part of a collective that's growing together.

At Derby, they passed another couple of tests as a side looking to prove they belong in the play-off conversation.

Derby are a massive, direct, uncompromising team but they are struggling and Stoke went to the East Midlands with a small burden of expectation.

They were also looking to respond to a first defeat in some time with a win they will hope will begin another positive run of results.

They coped with all of the above, learned a few lessons and came away with the points which gives them 19 from their past eight games.

That's a phenomenal return from Graham and co, particularly given they are a team that is still developing.

After the events of last season, no Stoke fan will want to get too carried away but there is a huge amount to be optimistic about.

Stoke boss Mark Robins spoke to BBC Radio Stoke after their 1-0 win against Derby County.

For a written selection of his quotes, click here:

Stoke City boss Mark Robins believes supporters are seeing positive signs from his team, built on an improved culture at the club.

The Potters are eighth in the Championship table with Tuesday's 3-2 defeat by Middlesbrough ending a six-game unbeaten run.

"There is so much to like and so much to be excited about. It's not just me saying that, you see that and the supporters are reflecting that and that's a real positive." Robins told BBC Radio Stoke.

"Even in the defeat, I thought we got stronger in it and it's about belief and having that understanding we're going to be good. We're good now but we're going to be good."

Stoke lost their opening three games of the season, having been beaten in five of their final six matches last season but Robins thinks a summer of recruitment and hard work behind the scenes is paying off.

"There are things the players understand have got to be habits and that's what the supporters are seeing which bodes well," he said.

"There are so many good signs, positive signs and we've got to keep building on that.

"The culture around the place has improved. We've got a way of doing things that is acceptable, that we want to see on a daily basis and that reflects in what we do every day and you can then do that on the football pitch."

The Potters visit struggling Derby County on Saturday (15:00 BST).

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

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Derby will seek to kick-start their season when Stoke head to Pride Park on Saturday (15:00 BST).

The second-bottom Rams have taken just two points from their past six games and were humbled 4-1 at QPR on Wednesday night, while they remain winless at home, drawing two and losing four of their six matches in all competitions.

The in-form Potters suffered a last-gasp 3-2 defeat at home to Middlesbrough on Tuesday, having taken 16 points from their six previous matches, but remain eighth and within striking distance of the top three.

• Derby are unbeaten in six home league games against Stoke (W3 D3) since a 0-2 defeat in February 2007.

• Stoke have scored just one goal in their past six league visits to Derby, Tom Ince netting in a 2-1 defeat in September 2021.

• Derby have been in losing position in their Championship matches this season for 50.3% of the time – the second-worst return in the competition, behind only Watford (52.1%).

• Stoke have won each of their past two away league games, and will be looking to win three in succession on their travels for the first time since December 2005 (run of four wins).

• So far during the 2026-27 Championship season, Derby remain the only side yet to score from a set piece (incl. penalties), while only four sides have conceded more set piece goals than the Rams (5).

Ged Scott and Mark Elliott
BBC Sport England

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Stoke City defender Ben Wilmot is confident the Potters can bounce straight back from suffering their first defeat in almost two months.

After starting the season with three straight Championship losses, Mark Robins' men had responded superbly with a run of 16 points out of a possible 18.

Middlesbrough's injury-time winner at the Bet365 Stadium on Tuesday brought that to a cruel end - but Stoke now face the Championship's current bottom two in their next three matches.

And Wilmot says they will be motivated by the way they performed against Boro.

"The positive is that we put in a good performance and shouldn't have lost," he told BBC Radio Stoke. "And I'm sure we'll soon get back to winning ways.

"We're young and we're learning but we're still full of confidence. We were good value for at least a point.

"We took our time to get into the game. They dominated the ball in the first half without creating loads, which we were fine with, but we knew we needed to get more of the ball, which we did second half.

"It was then the little moments that cost us in the second half and that's disappointing."

Saturday's trip to Potters old boy John Eustace's Derby is their next test, followed by home games on successive Saturdays - Bristol City, then the visit of bottom club Preston North End.

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Errors were Stoke's undoing in a game in which they tried to go toe to toe with Middlesbrough and came up short.

Stoke should have had a penalty in the first half when Jeremy Sarmiento hauled down Djibril Soumare and Junior Tchamadeu missed a good chance when he raced through on goal in the second.

On another day they might have won by the odd goal in several or taken at least a point but this time it was not to be.

The first 10 games have given us a decent idea of where Stoke sit in the Championship.

They have lost to Swansea, Southampton, Wolves and Middlesbrough who are, along with West Ham, probably the five teams to beat when it comes to automatic promotion.

Against the rest, they have had nothing but good results, suggesting they are right to aim to finish in the lower half of the top eight.

As a team that is still improving, that is not a bad position to be in and they have a great chance to further enhance those projections over the next month.

Games at Derby County, Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth around home games against Bristol City and Preston North End provide a run of fixtures that could yield a double figure haul in terms of points.

A run of five wins in six unbeaten games may be over but there is no reason to suggest they should not bounce back and put another sequence of positive results together.

Defeat by Boro is one to learn and move on from.

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Two of the Championship's in-form sides will meet when Stoke City welcome Middlesbrough to the bet365 Stadium on Tuesday night.

After losing their opening three matches of the season, the Potters are unbeaten since then with five wins from six (D1), including three victories in a row.

During that impressive run, Stoke have climbed from bottom to fourth in the table.

Meanwhile, second-placed Boro are unbeaten in their past seven games (W4 D3) and have lost just once so far this season.

• Stoke have lost three of their past four league games against Middlesbrough (D1), more than in their previous eight beforehand (W3 D3 L2).

• Middlesbrough have won both of their previous two away league games against Stoke, and are looking to win three in a row for the very first time.

• Stoke are looking to win four consecutive home league games for the first time since April 2014 in the Premier League.

• Middlesbrough have only lost one of their past 10 away games in the Championship (W3 D6), a 1-2 defeat at Blackburn in August.

• Mark Robins has only won more Championship games as a manager against Millwall (9) than Middlesbrough (8), although he has lost two of his three against them with Stoke (D1).

The latest episode of BBC Radio Stoke's A Cold Wet Tuesday Night podcast is out now.

Lucas Yeomans and Louis Moult discuss Stoke's win at Bolton Wanderers to go six games unbeaten.

Listen above or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.

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When Stoke went down to 10 men with 70 minutes left on the clock at Bolton, it looked as though their unbeaten run was in real danger of coming to an abrupt end.

But in truth, the biggest compliment they can be given is that even a man down they never really looked likely to lose once they'd taken the lead against the run of play just before half-time.

Lamine Cisse worked relentlessly hard, held the ball up brilliantly at times and took his goal well - and in the second half his team-mates managed the game excellently.

Ben Wilmot's header from a set piece was the perfect goal for a shorthanded team to score to double the lead and Cisse and Luca Bombino could have added another.

They defended well after giving up two very good early chances, one of which was superbly saved by Viktor Johansson and were rightly roared on by a raucous away following throughout.

Stoke entertain Middlesbrough in midweek as an equal at the right end of the Championship table.

It will be another stiff test of this new team's credentials but if the evidence of the past six games is anything to go by, they have the quality to get another positive result.

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Stoke City manager Mark Robins spoke to BBC Radio Stoke after their 10 men won 2-1 at Bolton to climb to fourth in the Championship.

For a written selection of his quotes, click here.

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West Ham United are celebrating winning both the Championship's manager and player of the month awards for September.

Boss Nuno Espirito Santo oversaw an unbeaten run last month which produced four wins from their five league games in which they scored 18 goals.

Defender Konstantinos Mavropanos had a prolific September for the Hammers, scoring four goals while also helping them keep two clean sheets as they moved up to second place in the table.

"I am delighted to win this award, but it was an excellent team effort this month," said Mavropanos.

"We had some good results, went on a good run, and obviously this award means that we are doing something good with the team.

"I am the one who has been given the award this time, but it could have been any of my team-mates, and I am just really happy that we are in a good way right now."

Lincoln head coaches Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw, Swansea's Vitor Matos and Mark Robins of Stoke City were also nominated for the manager award.

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Stoke City will hope to continue their excellent form when they visit Bolton Wanderers in the Championship on Saturday (kick-off 15:00 BST).

The Potters lost their opening three games of the season and were bottom of the table at the end of August but are unbeaten since then and have climbed to seventh with four wins from five matches (D1).

Bolton have won two on the bounce following a run of four straight defeats, with their most recent success a thrilling 4-3 win at Norwich before the international break.

• This is the first league meeting between Bolton Wanderers and Stoke City since a goalless draw in the Championship in December 2018.

• Stoke City are winless in their pre10 league visits to Bolton Wanderers (D4 L6) since a 1-0 win in October 1990 under manager Alan Ball.

• Bolton have won their past two Championship matches – they haven't won three in a row at this level since April 2014; this is their 197th game in the Championship since then.

• No team won more points in the Championship in September than Stoke (13), who won four of their five matches (D1). It was more wins than they'd managed in their previous 23 games (W3 D6 L14).

• Thierry Gale has been involved in four goals in eight Championship appearances for Bolton this season (3 goals, 1 assist) – he's the first Barbadian with as many as three goals in a Championship season since Nick Blackman scored 11 in 2015-16 for Reading.

Robbie Savage will have his first crack at management in the EFL after taking over at Peterborough United, while Michael Duff has replaced Graham Alexander at Bradford City.

Savage and Duff both appear on the latest 72+ EFL podcast with Jobi McAnuff, who is joined by Luke Chambers and Tommy Smith.

The panel also discuss the teams who have impressed and disappointed them in the Championship so far this season.

Spoiler alert... Stoke City, Swansea City, QPR, Burnley, Norwich City and Derby County all get a mention.

Listen to the full episode above or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.

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Lincoln City head coaches Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw, Swansea's Vitor Matos, Mark Robins of Stoke City and West Ham United boss Nuno Espirito Santo have been nominated for September's Championship manager of the month award.

Cohen and Shaw oversaw a run of eight points from five games for newly-promoted Lincoln last month, including away wins at Preston and Bristol City.

Matos won August's award and is in the running again as Swansea took 10 points in September to move to the top of the Championship table.

Stoke City recovered from losing their opening three games of the season under Robins to go unbeaten last month with four wins from their five outings and move up to seventh place.

West Ham boss Nuno's side rattled in 18 goals in their five matches in September with only Millwall preventing them from taking three points in a 2-2 draw at The Den.

The winner will be announced at 06:00 BST on Friday, 9 October.

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Stoke City midfielder Djibril Soumare says the togetherness in the squad has helped turn their early season form around.

After losing their first three games of the Championship season, the Potters have rallied excellently, winning four of five matches before the international break to move into seventh place, two points off the top two.

Soumare, one of a number of key summer arrivals that included £10m Northern Ireland midfielder Ethan Galbraith, has been an impressive presence in Stoke's run and the former Sheffield United loanee said there was a simple reason for that.

"I felt love since day one. So I'm really enjoying it here," he told BBC Radio Stoke.

"I think that togetherness is really like a family on the pitch, out of the pitch. I said when I joined I still want to develop and the staff here, coaches - it was the right one for me I think.

"If it's time to be serious we're going to be serious but in the dressing room, having a laugh with the boys, is something special."

Soumare made 25 appearances for the Blades in the Championship last season and he said he returned to England from Portuguese club Braga this summer with more of an idea what to expect.

"There's still a lot to develop on my football - the intensity, because I think I'm not 100% fit yet as I didn't have a proper pre-season," he added.

"That season [with United] wasn't perfect but I learned a lot - it was my first year in England, so now I think I understand the league better and will enjoy it more.

"To be honest, I really love this team, so I'm really looking forward to score my first goal - that will be something really special for me."

Stoke return to Championship action on Saturday at Bolton Wanderers [15:00 BST].