Steven Schumacher manager of Plymouth Argyle applauds the fans at full time looks dejected during the Sky Bet Championship match Coventry City vs Plymouth Argyle at Coventry Building Society Arena, Coventry, United Kingdom, 28th November 2023 (Photo by Stan Kasala/News Images)
As Steven Schumacher gets Stoke City ready for a trip to Cardiff, Tyrese Campbell and Andre Vidigal will be hoping they’ve done enough to earn a spot back in the matchday squad.
Week by week, Schumacher has been making use of his team in an attempt to discover a winning combination. When a team’s worth of senior players did not make the match day 20, there were five changes at Sunderland, three against Leicester, eight at Blackburn, five against QPR, and six against Coventry last weekend.
The under-21s defeated Brighton 4-3 on Monday afternoon, giving Campbell and Vidigal an opportunity to gain confidence and grab the attention of the head coach. To give them the best opportunity of getting called back, Campbell set up two while Vidigal scored one and forced another.
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Luke McNally (thigh) and Daniel Iversen (dead leg), who were ruled out of the match against Coventry due to late fitness tests, are also aiming to return. Among those vying to return are Wouter Burger, Junior Tchamadeu, Bae Junho, and Niall Ennis, who all started against QPR but were utilized from the bench.
In a 3-4-2-1, Schumacher might be tempted to switch back to the team that faced QPR. With Josh Laurent returning from an ankle injury, Lynden Gooch will be hoping he’s done enough to keep the shirt at right wing-back. Josh Laurent is a new option in midfield. Ben Wilmot will aspire to play center half on a regular basis.
“We knew the last two home games were going to be difficult because of circumstances so we decided to go a bit more solid and play a back five,” stated Schumacher last weekend. Stoke had mostly played a 4-3-3 since Schumacher joined in mid-December. However, they have started the last two games with a back three. We’ve played better, giving up only one goal in our last two games.
“However, we appeared more menacing when we switched to a 4-3-3 in the second half. We simply keep trying to select the side whose structure we believe will win the upcoming game.”
Iversen, Tchamadeu, Thompson, Wilmot, Rose, McNally, Burger, Baker, Cundle, Junho, Ennis, and Stoke’s starting lineup prediction vs Cardiff
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