BEEFY STOKE MUST WEIGH IN WITH BITE

MICHAEL O’NEILL has done a good job in beefing up Stoke, but must now shed some deadweight.

All five of the Potters boss’s summer signings – John Obi Mikel, Morgan Fox, James Chester, Steven Fletcher and Jacob Brown – featured at the Den.

But O’Neill now has too many players and is hoping for more outs than ins during the closing weeks of the transfer window.

O’Neill said: “I’ve got too many players, it’s as simple as that. We’ve known that for some time.

“We’re trying to build a team here and when you do that there are always casualties. That’s unfortunately where we are.”

Despite boasting a bank of strikers that includes starters Sam Vokes (battling with Millwall’s Shaun Hutchinson, above) and Tyrese Campbell, plus Fletcher, Lee Gregory and Benik Afobe, Stoke fired a blank.

Sam Clucas had an early effort blocked by Lions keeper Bartosz Bialkowski, and Campbell saw his first-half effort deflected into the side netting by Ryan Leonard.

Millwall had just one shot on target, with Jon Dadi Bodvarsson scuffing his effort. It left Millwall boss Gary Rowett yearning for the services of a Stoke player, on-loan midfielder Ryan Woods, who could not face his parent club.

Rowett said: “We were missing Ryan, who would have made a huge difference. He is a top midfielder who gets us playing.

“But Woodsy will be available to play against Cheltenham in the EFL Cup on Tuesday. It will also be a chance for some of those who could not play today to come in.

“I will be looking for a more composed performance.”

MILLWALL: Bialkowski 7, Leonard 7, Hutchinson 6, Cooper 7, Pearce 6, Malone 7 (M Wallace 82), Williams 7, Thompson 7, Bennett 6 (Mahoney 64, 6) Bodvarsson 6 (Smith 63, 6) J Wallace 8

STOKE: Davies 6, Smith 6, Batth 7, Chester 6, Martins Indi 7, Fox 6, Obi MIkel 6, Clucas 7, Powell 6 (Thompson 86), Vokes 7 (Brown 78, 6), Campbell 7 (Fletcher 64, 6)

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