Stoke & Staffordshire

In truth, at half-time, Stoke City's trip to Portsmouth felt like a game too far as the Championship form teams went toe-to-toe at the end of a three-game week.

After a tough run of fixtures, Portsmouth edged a first half low on quality, like the slightly sharper of a couple of punch-drunk and unlikely contenders.

Stoke midfielder Ethan Galbraith revealed harsh words were said in the away dressing room at the break.

Substitutions soon followed and to labour the metaphor, Stoke collectively bit down on the gumshield, found the energy they needed in the championship rounds and forced a gutsy win that took them, however briefly, to the top of the league.

Previous iterations of Stoke City would have fallen apart as the match went on but this team has an obvious tenacity and greater resolve.

It's fitting that Jack McGlynn and Ben Wilmot, two of the stars of the opening third of the season, scored the goals that sent Stoke into the international break with a win.

Potters manager Mark Robins was quick to praise his side and urge everyone involved not to get too carried away, but it's becoming harder not to.

Stoke have won five league games away from home in a row for the first time since 1947 and they've taken 29 points from their last 12 games.

This team's biggest strength might just be their ability to find a way to get a result in hostile environments, even when they're not playing well.

They've put themselves right in the mix at the top of the table with a great chance to tackle the depths of winter and the busiest part of the season with genuine confidence.

Stoke boss Mark Robins spoke to BBC Radio Stoke after the 2-1 win at Portsmouth.

For a written selection of his quotes, click here

Image source, Shutterstock

Jack McGlynn came to Stoke as a relative unknown to anyone who was not keeping a very close eye on MLS, despite his presence on the fringes of the US national team.

Nine goals over a couple of seasons for Houston Dynamo, one of the league's less glamorous franchises, indicated promise.

But the impact he has made since moving to the Championship has revealed a 23-year-old ready to establish himself as an important player for club and country and shone a really favourable light on a league now exporting homegrown players of real quality with increasing regularity.

He came to Stoke with a reputation as someone who struck the ball well from distance but his goal at Blackburn gave everyone at Ewood Park the understanding that his quality goes far beyond a mere ability to hit the ball cleanly.

Standing over a free-kick, McGlynn spotted that Blackburn goalkeeper Balasz Toth had left an inviting gap at his near post, choosing to position himself higher and wider anticipating a cross.

To see that, have the confidence to shoot from a position just infield from the left touchline and then follow that intention through with clinical accuracy showed a mix of vision, composure and quality that very few players in the second tier possess.

McGlynn now has four goals and two assists in eight starts and 10 overall appearances and has firmly established himself as the player most likely to replicate the numbers Sorba Thomas produced (double figures in both categories) last season before the latter moved to Hull.

His set-piece delivery is good, he is mobile enough without fitting the stereotype of the hyper-athletic MLS midfielder and he has still got plenty of room to grow.

McGlynn is still acclimatising to the Championship and could still be more influential in possession in open play, but he has made an incredible start to his Stoke career and alongside Ethan Galbraith and Luke Graham, he is an early contender for signing of the summer.