O’NEILL DETERMINED TO KEEP HOLD OF STOKE’S TOP ASSETS
STOKE City will not be forced into a corner to sell prized assets like Harry Souttar, says Michael O’neill.
Souttar, aged 22, has had a fine breakthrough season in the Championship, becoming a fixture at centre-back with praise for his defensive work as well as ability to play out from the back.
He signed a new four-and-a-half year contract just last month but stories emerged this week suggesting he was being watched by scouts from West Ham, Wolves and Crystal Palace.
O’neill is clearly bemused by the whispers – but went on to emphasise that Stoke have tied down their young talents and it would clearly take a lot of money to wrestle them away.
He said: “It’s funny. The linking is always done by the media and then the media ask me about the linking! It’s a good process, that. You don’t really know whether any of that actually exists!
“Look, Harry has had a good season and the likes of Harry, Nathan (Collins) and Tyrese (Campbell)… young players who play in the Championship are always going to attract attention and I think it’s one thing that’s gone amiss that we’ve had the most minutes played by under-23 players in the Championship this season.
“I think that tells you how we are progressing as a team. We’ve either brought young players to the club or we’ve brought younger players through who were on the periphery of the team and have been at the club through the academy stage.
“It’s good to see that pen off to some extent but we have to go to the next step with it.
“Ultimately we have to make decisions on players regardless of their age at any one point to try to progress the team.
“But certainly we don’t want to be in a position where we have to sell our younger players. Equally we have to take each situation as it comes.
“Harry is now on a long-term contract, Nathan is on a long-term contract, Joe Bursik, Tyrese, Jacob Brown, Jordan Thompson, they are all on long-term contracts. We’re not in a position where we have to sell someone because we’ve been forced into a corner.”
Tashan Oakley-boothe is expected to miss the rest of the season after suffering a small fracture in his back.
The 21-year-old midfielder has been on the fringes of the first team since joining from Tottenham in early 2020, but there are high hopes for his development.
A door was opening for him to try to stake his claim in the last few weeks of this campaign but instead he will be consigned to the treatment room.
He adds to a long injury list for O’neill, who has at least 10 senior
players who are either out or doubts for today’s trip to Bristol City.
“I’ll read them out to you, the numbers are high so I’ve had to write them down,” said O’neill, when asked for an injury update.
“(Nathan) Collins is obviously still injured, (Joe) Allen injured, (Tyrese) Campbell injured… Oakley-boothe unfortunately has a small fracture in his back which needs just a period of rest so it’s unlikely he’ll be available
for the rest of the season. (Morgan) Fox is still in the rehabilitation process and a couple of weeks away.
“(Jordan) Cousins is back training but probably not in contention to be involved on Friday, (Sam) Clucas the same.
“(Will) Forrester has a muscle injury and both Jack Clarke and Harry Souttar were unable to take part in training (on Wednesday morning).”