Stoke City assistant manager Dean Holden has admitted that the club are currently working hard to secure the services of one or two more players ahead of their upcoming Championship clash with Millwall.

The Potters are set to head to The Den on July 30th to face the Lions in their opening league fixture of the 2022/23 campaign.

Stoke have made some significant alterations to their squad after being forced to settle for a 14th-place finish in the second-tier standings earlier this year.

As well as parting ways with a number of players, the Potters have made five signings in the current transfer window.

Josh Laurent, Liam McCarron and Aden Flint have all sealed permanent moves to the bet365 Stadium whilst Stoke have also drafted in Harry Clark and Gavin Kilkenny on loan deals from Arsenal and AFC Bournemouth.

Making reference to the club's transfer plans, Holden has revealed that the Potters are looking to add one or two more players to their side this month.

Speaking to the Stoke Sentinel following the club's pre-season friendly defeat to Bristol Rovers, Holden said: "We're working hard in the market and we'll carry on doing that.

"Hopefully over the next few days we hope we'll have some joy with that.

"We're positive we'll be able to bring one or two in for key positions.

"At the same time it's our job to keep working with the players, coaching them and developing them and trying to help them."

Holden later added: "We would hope so before the Millwall game, we are very hopeful that we could bring one or two in."

The Verdict

It will be intriguing to see whether Stoke are indeed able to make progress in their pursuit of targets in the coming days.

The Potters are believed to be in the market for a new striker after opting to part ways with Benik Afobe and Steven Fletcher this summer.

Whereas manager Michael O'Neill will be able to turn to Jacob Brown for inspiration in this particular position, the club will need to provide the Scotland international for some competition.

By nailing his recruitment between now and the end of the transfer window, O'Neill will boost his side's chances of achieving a relative amount of success in the opening stages of the campaign.