HARD WORK GOES ON FOR POTTERS IN QUEST FOR BETTER

STOKE City defender Harry Souttar insists the international break isn’t just abut recharging batteries. The Potters have several players away representing their nations but for those left behind there has still been work to do.

Souttar says it is the ideal time to fine tune aspects of their play at Clayton Wood after a hectic start to the campaign.

Stoke have played four Championship matches - the last being a 1-1 home draw with Birmingham - and have also embarked on a superb run to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup. “No team is perfect and there’s always things to improve on,” said the 21-year-old, ahead of next weekend’s game at Luton. We can look at how we build from the back or when teams sit deep how we go about breaking them down. “For the vast majority of the Birmingham game we had them camped in and just couldn’t find the goal until Nick (Powell) scored late on.”

Souttar has made five appearances this season, including starting the last two league matches.

As well as the Birmingham encounter, he also figured from the start in the 1-0 win at Preston. There has been plenty of debate about whether manager Michael O’neill should stick with his three centre-halves policy or revert to a back four.

Souttar says it doesn’t bother him, whichever system O’neill decides to employ.

“There’s a lot of similarities between playing three or four at the back,” he explained. “For me, it’s just a case of doing my job. “The way we want to play is to try to start out from the back if possible, so that means being comfortable on the ball as well.” Meanwhile, Stoke midfielder Jordan Thompson was a second-half substitute in Northern Ireland’s Euro 2020 play-off penalty shoot-out win against Bosnia & Herzegovina on Thursday night. Thompson played all of extra--time before Northern Ireland managed to hold their nerve in the shoot-out. They host Slovakia next month with the winners progressing to the main tournament which will now be held next year.