Stoke City manager Michael O'Neill has stated that his side must win three or four of their remaining seven games to ensure they stay in the Championship.

The Potters were beaten comfortably by Neil Warnock's reinvigorated Middlesbrough side, and it meant that Stoke dropped to within a point of the drop zone.

With just seven games left of the Championship season, it's all to play for at the bottom end of the division with six sides separated by just five points.

Stoke's next two fixtures will be crucial in terms of the club's survival in the division, and the Potters will be hoping they can pick up some much needed points against both Wigan Athletic and Barnsley.

O'Neill has expressed that he feels his side must get three or four more wins before the season is out otherwise the club will be at risk of relegation to League One.

Speaking to the Stoke Sentinel, O'Neill said: "We will continue to prepare the team, pick the right team hopefully for the games that remain and we have to try to possibly get three or four wins from the remaining seven games."

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The Verdict

It's a really troubling time for Stoke and their supporters, and it would not be surprising to see them drop down to League One after the awful couple of seasons that they have endured.

The club is seemingly in a rut, and whenever it looks as though they might pull themselves back out, they suffer a succession of poor results that puts them in the mix for relegation.

O'Neill has a mammoth task on his hands, not just to stay up but to build for the future as at the moment they're heading down a very bleak path.