POTTERS’ CHARACTER DELIGHTS O’NEILL
STOKE boss Michael O’Neill is refusing to get carried away, despite heading to Fulham with his side out of the relegation zone for the first time since he took charge.
A dramatic last-gasp win over Sheffield Wednesday pushed Stoke out of the bottom three and O’Neill insists there is more to come from his team.
Injury doubt James McClean gave the hosts the lead, but goals from Morgan Fox and Tom Lees seemingly kept Stoke firmly at the foot of the table.
However, stoppage-time strikes from Tyrese Campbell and Sam Vokes stunned promotion-chasing Owls.
“It was a great way to win a game,” said O’Neill. “After 90 minutes we were five points adrift of safety and now we’re out of the drop zone – that just shows you how crazy the Championship is.
“I’m not going to get too carried away because we have a difficult game at Fulham coming up. It was a typical Stoke performance, we’ve had to go long and pump balls into the box in stoppage time. It would have been harsh for us to lose that game.
“They’ve shown great character and there were some really good performances. We can play better than that and prettier than that, but we showed the character we need to get away from the relegation zone.”
McClean scored his second goal in four games as the hosts took the lead after 11 minutes when he poked home Joe Allen’s goal-bound header on the line. Wednesday’s best chance of the first half fell to Adam Reach when his header rattled a post.
After the restart, Stoke had shouts for a penalty waved away after a clash of heads between Sam Clucas and Massimo Luongo in the Owls’ box. Away boss Garry Monk made all three subs by the 65th minute and it paid off soon after as the visitors levelled.
Defender Fox flicked Barry Bannan’s corner home with 23 minutes left. Then, seven minutes later, Monk’s promotion chasers hit the front. Stoke shot-stopper Jack Butland produced a fine save to keep out Sam Winnall’s header, but Lees reacted quickest to nod in the rebound.
Campbell levelled proceedings at the death when he fired home after Clucas’ header, before Vokes poked home to spark jubilant scenes.
The Owls failed to close the gap on the top two as their promotion push hit a snag ahead of today’s clash with Cardiff. Manager Monk accepts that his side must turn in a better performance to get a result.
He said: “We got what we deserved. We weren’t at the races and you can’t expect to win games playing like that.
“We need to show a reaction and be more determined. We lacked our usual intensity, but there is a short turn around and we’ll dust ourselves down.”