Stoke & Staffordshire

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  1. Lightweight Stoke outmuscled by Derbypublished at 10:03 BST

    Mark Elliott
    BBC Radio Stoke’s Stoke City commentator

    Lamine Cisse, in a purple Stoke City away kit, competes for the ball with David Ozoh, wearing a white Derby County home kit, during their matchImage source, Getty Images

    Stoke were outmuscled at Derby in a way that highlighted the gap in physicality between the Potters and most of the teams chasing promotion.

    Not every team in the Championship needs to be as direct as Derby but no team can afford to be as lightweight and lacking in power and athleticism as Stoke were.

    It's not the first time over the past two seasons that Stoke have been bullied to defeat.

    They put out a young team, particularly defensively and couldn't impose themselves physically at either end of the pitch.

    After the game, the manager Mark Robins questioned his team's "fight", which suggests that he's ready to move on from some players this summer.

    When they turn to the transfer market in a few weeks, adding power and physicality - particularly to the spine of the team - has to be a priority.

  2. Robins reacts to defeat at Derbypublished at 18:36 BST 6 April

    Media caption,

    Robins: 'We've looked passive'

    Stoke City manager Mark Robins spoke BBC Radio Stoke after Monday's 2-0 defeat at Derby County.

    "How did I see the game? It was a nothing first half, but they had better chances than us," he said.

    "On Good Friday it was a really good win. Then coming into this one as we come to the end of the season, I'm looking for more.

    "And really, I'm left disappointed because we've certainly not done enough with the ball, but we have looked passive, which isn't us – it shouldn't be us and can't be us. And we left ourselves open to that defeat, and that is a concern.

    "After a game where we've had to work hard, even against a Sheffield Wednesday side that has been struggling, we win the game and we have to bounce onto the next one, and we don't or can't do that.

    "It is really difficult to win any game of football in any division, and the Championship is brutal, but you certainly have to match the opposition in terms of fight, and we haven't got that.

    "We just haven't got that at this stage and the players who have got that just looked like they weren't at the level of Derby's players."