Stoke City picked up their first win of the Championship season at the weekend, defeating high-flying Swansea City by two goals to nil at the Liberty Stadium.

The Potters left it late to record their first elusive three points of the campaign, with Scott Hogan striking in stoppage-time to take the pressure off manager Nathan Jones.

It has been a difficult tenure of Stoke for Jones so far - he left Luton Town to replace Gary Rowett at the bet365 Stadium last season, after the Staffordshire side made another dismal start to the season, despite making a host of big-money signings in the summer.

The likes of Sam Clucas and Tom Ince failed to impress last season upon their arrival at the bet365, but with the pair growing in confidence and starting to play much better under the Welshman, the same cannot be said for midfielder Ryan Woods.

The 25-year-old signed for Stoke from Brentford last season, after establishing himself as one of the best defensive midfielders in the division during his time at Griffin Park.

But having failed to impress in what was his debut season at the bet365 last term, we take a look at whether he has improved under Jones this time around...

With the likes of Badou N'Diaye and Peter Etebo establishing themselves as really important players under Jones, Woods has struggled to nail down a place in the starting XI this term.

The 25-year-old has made six appearances in all competitions, three coming in the Carabao Cup, and three coming in the Championship.

This season, Stoke have mostly set up in a diamond formation, with Woods playing right at the tip of the midfield, sitting in front of the back four.

His role is largely focused upon breaking up play and playing simple passes to his teammates, and plays the same role as what Jordan Cousins and N'Diaye do.

But Woods has struggled to replicate the same level of performances that he put in during his time at Brentford, failing to make a real impact on games.

The midfielder has accrued an impressive pass success rate of 91.5% after completing 234 passes, but only 34 of those were played into the final third of the pitch.

The tenacious midfielder has broke up play effectively, making a total of 15 interceptions and winning 106 duels so far, but compared to what N'Diaye and Etebo bring to the midfield, he fails to compete with their physical prowess and power.

He has completed only three sliding tackles successfully this season, and it's hard to see where he would fit in, with N'Diaye really impressing of late.

They have found the right balance in midfield, with N'Diaye sitting back, allowing Clucas and Etebo to drive forward and create, and whilst Woods may have recorded some fairly decent stats, there is still work to be done if he is to reclaim his place in the starting line-up.