Stoke City moved up to fourth after they beat Peterborough 2-0 on Saturday.

The win now means Stoke have won three games in a row for the first time since 2016 in a cagey display against the Posh.

Mario Vrancic's deflected shot put the Potters in front after three minutes before Jacob Brown almost made it two after charging down David Cornell's clearance.

Sam Surridge was then sent off in the second half after a clash with Josh Knight but Tyrese Campbell killed hopes of a Peterborough with a superb solo goal in the 96th minute.

After Stoke moved up to fourth, O'Neill admitted he was relieved that they came through the game without any issues after Joe Bursik and Harry Souttar were ruled out with long term injuries over the international break.

He told the Stoke Sentinel: "The most important thing was to go and win the game today on the back of the international break.

"We’re asking a lot of a lot players and they’re delivering for us. We’ve got to look after them, turn them around, do very little between now and Wednesday and make sure we’re ready to play."

The Verdict

Stoke have been in the unfortunate position of never having their best eleven available to them.

Tyrese Campbell has been injured for almost a full year and as soon as he's available, Nick Powell picks up a muscle injury which rules him out for two months.

Couple that with the long term injuries of Bursik and Souttar and Michael O'Neill must be wondering what he has to do to have some luck.

Nonetheless, Stoke are still picking up results which is a huge bonus considering their injury list. If they can make it to January without dropping too many points, it's an opportune time to fill some gaps in the squad and add some depth, ready for a push in the second half of the season.