This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...
FLW’s Stoke City fan pundit Ben Rowley is not in an optimistic mood going into the club’s opening game of the season.
The Potters face Millwall at the Den on Saturday afternoon to kick-off the new Championship campaign.
But Michael O’Neill’s side have not had the best preparations for proceedings, with new attacking arrivals only joining the club in the last week or so.
Dwight Gayle and Will Smallbone have been signed, but this supporter believes new additions will be needed in the window to be fully competitive over the next 12 months.
The fan pundit also claimed that the team hasn’t quite looked ready for the start of the new campaign, giving the Lions the edge in his pre-match prediction given their positive end to last season.
“I must admit me and most other Stoke fans aren’t looking forward to the first game of the season,” Rowley told Football League World.
“We’ve not had a good pre-season, we’ve lost to four teams, three in League One and one in the SPL.
“Our squad just doesn’t seem ready yet. We’ve only just made a couple of attacking signings in Dwight Gayle and Will Smallbone.
“We probably need another starting centre back as well and it just seems a little too early for us.
“Maybe I can be proven wrong, but Millwall away is going to be very difficult, they seem a team that’s recruited well and will have some momentum going in from last season.
“We will be quite the opposite to that.
“I’m hopeful for a draw, I’d be very pleased with a draw. But I can’t help but think that Millwall are going to have the momentum and they’re going to nick a 1-0.”
Stoke finished 14th in the table last season after a disappointing drop off in form in the second half of the campaign.
O’Neill was under some pressure following an eight game winless run that coincidentally ended with a win over Millwall.
Another win this weekend would be a very positive start to the campaign, with the game taking place on July 30.
The Verdict
A draw away to Millwall on the opening day is certainly a result a lot of away fans will take if offered to them now.
It is never a good sign when fans aren’t looking forward to the curtain raiser.
It’s been nearly three months since Stoke last played a competitive game, the excitement should naturally be there to see the team play again.
But a stuttering summer has fans rightly cautious with the team’s preparedness going into the new term.