O’Neill’s stoked a fire in his starlets

MICHAEL O’NEILL is re-modelling Stoke City at a pace – but still can not admit to picking his firstchoice side this season.

The former Northern Ireland boss (above) has changed the dynamic at the bet365 Stadium with the Potters now boasting a fresh and youthful look.

But a string of seasonal injuries has set him back and his Yuletide wish is easy to guess – a clean bill of health.

And that led the Potters’ chief into an uneasy admission ahead of tomorrow’s tricky trip to west London.

Asked if he had named his preferred XI this season, he said: “I probably haven’t – we’re not too far away from it. I’m not too sure we have a first XI that’s set in stone anyway.

“But we have lost key players. There’s no doubt about that, right through the spine of the team.

“Tyrese Campbell, Nicky Powell, Harry Souter and Joe Bursik have been missing. Sam Clucas is also coming back. It makes life difficult for you. It’s part of the job.

“One or two have been injured on international duty. You’re always thinking: ‘I hope they stay fit,’ but you can’t control that.”

One aspect of the club that O’Neill has whipped into shape is the age profile. Gone are the underachieving senior players, replaced by hungry twentysomethings.

O’Neill added: “The green shoots are there.

“The club is set up to return to the Premier League but there are 10 or 12 clubs in the Championship who would say the same thing.

“We have to do it now in a very different way to when the club was first relegated – buying players and spending a lot and not getting where we wanted.

“Those players are no longer at the club. They’ve moved on. We have a younger group with very good senior professionals.

“The landscape at the club is different. Stoke City was known for having a hungry team. We want to get back to that.

“This is our fourth season in the Championship. We don’t have the luxury of parachute payments. We have to be shrewd with our recruitment too.

“We have not spent that much and the money we have spent is on players who are 22 or 23 or under.

“I think a lot of them will want to play at the highest level, which is obviously the Premier League.

“There’s a number of international players. They want to be playing there, too.

“I think we are going in the right direction. We’ve had a couple of results that have hurt us recently but there’s a lot to be positive about. I think we will develop still further in the second half of the season.

“We have set our path. We are on a journey and the future is looking brighter.”