There is a lot of optimism around Stoke City right now, with the 1-0 win at Championship leaders West Brom on Monday the clearest sign yet that Michael O'Neill is getting things right.

The Northern Ireland chief has managed to forge a real team spirit among the group and they now look a well organised, tough side to play against.

Therefore, major changes aren't expected this month, with the boss just trying to make the necessary tweaks to keep the Potters in the division ahead of a massive overhaul in the summer.

And, one player who could make a big impact in the coming months is Thibaud Verlinden, after he was recalled earlier this month following a successful loan spell with Bolton.

In a way, the 20-year-old epitomises everything O'Neill will want Stoke to be under his guidance in the years to come; young, hungry and eager to prove himself at this level.

Importantly though, he does have talent to go with that. Even though Verlinden was only playing in League One for the majority of the minutes on that graph, he still delivered in what was a pretty poor team.

Of course, he would like to have weighed in with more assists ad goals but he is a young player and the fact he provided 13 shot assists shows that he is getting in the right positions.

Perhaps the most pleasing aspect about his game though is the progressive runs that he makes and that quality means he should be ideally suited to O'Neill.

The new manager wants his side to defend deep, remain compact but to spring and be a threat on the break and Verlinden has the pace to execute that game plan perfectly down the flank.

A worry for Stoke after Tyrese Campbell's injury at West Brom was that they lacked the speed to transition quickly and whilst they fully merited the three points, it was backs-to-the-walls for much of the second half as they failed to counter properly.

The main issue for the youngster right now is the form of James McClean, with the Irishman one of the first names on the teamsheet right now, but that doesn't mean the speedy winger won't get a look-in moving forward.

The management team have shown faith in the player by bringing him back and Verlinden now needs to take the chances that come his way in the coming months to prove he warrants a key role for what will be a much-changed Stoke City come August.