Well this is, almost, it. On Sunday afternoon, Stoke City will mark the end of their first season back in the Championship by watching Sheffield United celebrate promotion, and possibly the title at The Potters own bet365 Stadium. It is a pair of roles, that at the start of the season, many expected would be reversed.

Stoke however have yet to well and truly take to the Championship, despite all the promise and expectation of last summer, and following an underwhelming first season back in the second tier that has seen only long since relegated Bolton and Ipswich score fewer goals, they will finish no higher than 16th.

Things though, are not all bad. Since the arrival of Nathan Jones from Luton in January, Stoke have become a much harder team to beat, even if they still do not always find it easy to win themselves.

Those struggles have led to talk of a summer upheaval within the squad, and following the latest news to emerge from the bet365 Stadium, it seems that Jones is not messing around when it comes to overhauling his side.

On Wednesday afternoon, it was announced that three members of the first team squad would depart, with the experienced midfield duo of Charlie Adam and Darren Fletcher and third choice goalkeeper Jakob Haugaard all set to leave the club at the end of the season.

It is an encouraging sign for those expecting a summer of change within the Stoke squad, with the experience and pedigree of Adam and Fletcher likely to mean that there will be plenty of funds available when it comes to attracting players of a higher pay grade.

However, this can only be the start for Stoke, because while space has been allowed for change, none of these three have been regulars on the pitch this season, and ultimately that is where things have to change if the club are to have any hopes of returning to the Premier League any time soon.

So far Stoke's attacking options have remained unchanged, and as has already been mentioned, goals have been the main issue for the Potters this season. That attacking threat could well be helped by the injection of more creativity in the midfield, and while they have been solid at the back, Premier League interest in goalkeeper Jack Butland means Stoke may well be forced into changes they don't want to make in places.

Therefore it is clear that there is still much work to be done at Stoke this summer, and the fact they are starting before the end of the season shows both the size of the task in hand for the club, and the seriousness with which they are taking it.

Depending on which way you look at it, that is either a big worry, or an early sign of encouragement.