Stoke City defender Danny Batth believes that his own previous personal experience of suffering relegation from the Championship could help him in the Potters’ survival bid this term.

Batth was part of a Wolves squad which suffered relegation to League One from the Championship in the 2012/13 season, a year on from their relegation from the Premier League. Although the defender only featured sporadically as he attempted to make his breakthrough into first team football.

Stoke find themselves in a similar sort of position to that Wolves side, with the Potters still struggling from the effects of their relegation from the Premier League in 2018 – and a slow start to this season has left the Potters in a fight to avoid relegation in the remaining nine matches should the campaign resume.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Batth suggested that his experience at Wolves helped him to learn what it takes to get out of trouble in the Championship, and that he believes the Potters have been showing those qualities under Michael O’Neill before the season was brought to a halt.

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He said: "I was fortunate enough that I was a young lad coming through at Wolves, so I was watching from the outside, really. I think I played 10 games in the Championship season that resulted in relegation but at that point I was just watching everything, learning how the pros dealt with it.

"I guess that gave me an opportunity to know the best route out of the situation at the start of the season and it was clear that we just had to keep working hard, keep everyone together and, most importantly, dig out results.

“That's what we've had to do at Stoke and it's all been based on the foundations: being solid at the back, a pacy, dynamic attack. That's given us a foothold in the league and hopefully we can build on that."

The verdict

These are interesting comments from Batth, with the Potters still not clear of relegation trouble sitting just three points clear of the bottom three with nine matches left to play, and it will be vital that O’Neill’s side ensure that they are ready to restart the campaign and keep picking up results.

When you are in a relegation battle it is vital that you use the experience around the dressing room, and in Batth Stoke have a player with the experience of what to do and not to do in that situation, so it will be vital that the Potters draw on his experience, as well as that of other experienced players in the squad.

Stoke should have more than enough quality with their squad to ensure that they survive, but that is no guarantee and they will need to adapt to the new environment of the game if the season does resume, and that is perhaps where the experience of players like Batth will come in very handy.