Following a disastrous start to the 2019/20 campaign, Stoke City have picked up their performance levels since opting to appoint Michael O'Neill as their new manager last November.

Having secured positive results against the likes of Barnsley, Wigan Athletic and Luton Town during the opening weeks of his tenure, the Northern Irishman opted to bolster his options in the January transfer window by recalling Thibaud Verlinden from his loan spell at Bolton Wanderers.

A product of Stoke's youth academy, the winger was allowed the leave on a temporary basis last summer by former boss Nathan Jones.

One of Bolton's stand-out performers in League One, Verlinden's displays caught the eye of O'Neill who brought him back to the bet365 Stadium.

Following several cameo displays for the Potters, the 20-year-old was given the chance to prove his worth in the closing stages of the club's clash with Preston North End.

Although he would have been aiming to help his side secure a positive result in this particular clash, Verlinden unfortunately suffered a season-ending knee injury as a result of a challenge from Darnell Fisher.

Here, in our latest spotlight article, we assess whether the winger could emerge as a regular starter for Stoke next season when he returns to full fitness by taking a closer look at his statistics from the current campaign...

Used on both wings by Stoke and Bolton, Verlinden illustrated some real signs of promise with the latter to the two sides.

During the 1241 minutes worth of action that he played at senior level, the winger scored three goals and produced one assist.

When you consider that all of these aforementioned direct goal contributions were produced in League One for Bolton, it will be intriguing to see whether Verlinden can replicate this success for Stoke at a higher level.

Although the winger was able to complete 197 successful dribbles, the fact that he only won 50% of his attacking duels is somewhat of a concern.

Can you get 14 out of 14 on this Stoke quiz? Have a go now!

Whilst it is clear that Verlinden is by no means the finished product, he will have to improve this particular area of his game if he is to have a real impact in the Championship.

Furthermore, the Belgian will also need to build upon his passing as he was only able to complete 61.3% of his attempts earlier this season which isn't good enough for this standard of football.

Whereas there is no doubting Verlinden's potential, it could be argued that he should be eased back into action as a substitute by O'Neill when he is fit enough to play instead of being introduced as a regular member of Stoke's starting eleven.