Alex Neil has discussed the impact the World Cup break could have on his Stoke City side.

The Potters boss is hopeful that the four weeks away from Championship action will help them to reset going into the second half of the campaign.

Neil has highlighted the number of summer signings that arrived in the previous transfer window as a big reason for why the team hasn’t quite clicked in recent months.

He also believes his own arrival has added to the squad’s disruptions, with injuries playing a crucial role in the side’s form this season.

The likes of Harry Souttar, Nick Powell, Josh Laurent, Jacob Brown and Josh Tymon have all struggled with fitness issues this term.

The Stoke manager is hopeful that these concerns will be less of a problem now that the club has had a month to ease everyone back to full fitness, as well as spend more time together on the training pitch to strengthen their understanding of the team’s game plan.

“If you look at the amount of players we brought in during the summer, it’s not a squad that’s been together for a long period of time,” said Neil, via the Stoke Sentinel.

“I think they’re still becoming familiar with each other. 

“Spending time with each other when you’re not going home each day is important as you get to know everybody’s character a little bit more.

“Also you want to build a team spirit and togetherness so that when tough times do come in games you can go back to that bond you’ve created. 

“From our perspective, that’s one of the key factors about why we wanted to get away for a week.

“I think we’ve certainly been disrupted this season, including before I came in. 

“We’ve had a number of players who have had very limited minutes. 

“Josh Tymon’s played four games, Harry Souttar’s played one, Josh Laurent has been in and out, Nick Powell has played three or four matches, Sam Clucas hasn’t featured since my first one and two and Gavin Kilkenny not at all.

“There are so many players who haven’t featured during that spell and like always you’re naturally going to be stronger when you’ve got selection headaches. 

“It will be good when we get players back.”

 

 

Stoke return to league action on 10 December when they host Cardiff City, with the team looking to improve upon their current standing of 17th in the table.

The Verdict

Souttar has not been available all season, but has shown his talent with Australia at the World Cup.

That is the calibre of player that Neil should now have at his disposal in the second half of the campaign.

This should ease the pressure on the team, with their standing in the table not reflecting their ambition for this season.

Neil has been brought in to compete for a top half position, so will be hoping the second half of this term can prove a more successful period having had to deal with a lot of issues since arriving in August.