O’NEILL’S SO SHAW RYAN HAS MORE TO OFFER...
MICHAEL O’Neill is still planning for Ryan Shawcross to play a major role at Stoke this season, despite an injury-hit 12 months raising question marks over the skipper’s future.
Shawcross broke his leg in a friendly last July and, though he returned before Christmas, suffered further groin and calf injuries.
That meant the 32-yearold – who celebrated a decade as Stoke’s captain last month – could only complete two of the five matches he started and was forced to watch helplessly from the sidelines as the club sunk into a relegation battle.
However, O’Neill revealed the ex-Manchester United player got minutes under his belt for the under-23s last week and plans to integrate him slowly.
“He just needs more football,” said the Potters boss. “It’s more difficult for a centre-back to get up to speed and obviously Ryan has had a long period with no football.
“He just has to build up his minutes in terms of training and playing and then we get the best version of Ryan – obviously that’s what we want.”
In Shawcross’s absence, O’Neill settled on James Chester and Danny Batth at centre-back and the pair kept three clean sheets in their final five games together.
With Bruno Martins Indi, Liam Lindsay and Nathan Collins also pushing for a place, the need for Shawcross – and whether he can stay fit has been questioned but O’Neill is eager to see the veteran return.
“It’s been a very frustrating time for him and I do feel for him but he continues to come in and work and try to get himself as fit as possible and try to get himself back playing,” added O’Neill.
“That’s what we want and obviously it will be a big plus to the team if he continues to progress and make the strides that we all hope he does.”