STOKE TAKE PLACE AT TOP OF TABLE, BUT THEY DON’T WANT TO BE THERE...
FOUR yellow cards flashed at Stoke City players by referee Tim Robinson means that the club now sits top of the Championship table for bookings this season.
Stoke have collected 49 cautions in 20 games so far, four more than the next closest teams Middlesbrough and Blackburn. Bristol City are at the other end of the scale with just 38 while Reading have 29.
Stoke are also top for red cards (three), level with West Brom and Birmingham City.
This is despite Stoke sitting midtable for the number of fouls they have actually committed (215).
Birmingham have given away 20 per cent more free-kicks but have only picked up 38 bookings. Luton have 39 bookings for their 253 yellow cards.
On average, a Stoke player has been booked for every 4.38 fouls committed by the team. In contrast, a Coventry player has been booked every 7.64 fouls committed by their side.
Opposition in games against Stoke have received a collective 35 yellow cards and no red cards, according to figures tallied up by the statistics website fbref.
Teams taking on Nottingham Forest have received 53 yellow cards and two reds, compared to 24 yellows and one red against Cardiff.
Forest manager Steve Cooper, whose dad Kevin Cooper was a former top flight referee, has at times been vocal in his criticism of officiating this season.
Championship clubs have just passed an amnesty for suspension due to five yellow cards.
Five yellows in the first 19 fixtures means a one-match ban - Sam Clucas picked up his five in his first 10 appearances.
Then 10 yellow cards in the first 37 matches means a two-match ban while 15 yellow cards up to the final day of the regular season means a three-match ban. A player who picks up 20 yellow cards will face a punishment decided by a regulatory commission.
Ben Wilmot picked up his fifth caution of the season from cardhappy Robinson against Blackburn on Saturday. Josh Tymon and Leo Ostigard are on four, Adam Davies, Sam Surridge, Jacob Brown and Tommy Smith are on three.
Michael O’neill wouldn’t be drawn in his post-match press conference at the weekend when he was asked about the standard of refereeing this season.
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It has been noted that Stoke have not just been struck by a bad run of injuries but a bad run of injuries to their most important players.
Michael O’neill was missing eight potential starters at the weekend, albeit including Joe Allen and Sam Surridge, whose untimely suspensions haven’t helped.
In fact, Josh Tymon is the only player to feature in more than 90 per cent of action in the 20 games so far this season. Only Ben
Wilmot, Tommy Smith and Jacob Brown have played in more than 80 per cent.
“We’re missing important players and players who have been very important for us this season,” said O’neill. “We’ve just got to get through this period, get back and the team will get stronger again.”
Key figures have featured in less than half the action including Steven Fletcher (44 per cent), Sam Clucas (41 per cent) and Nick Powell (34 per cent).
Abdallah Sima is an unknown quantity but hopes were high when he joined on deadline day without any real history of injuries. So far he has only played 73 league minutes.
Looking at other teams in the top seven, Coventry have seven players who have been involved more than Stoke’s second most featured player. Bournemouth and West Brom have five; Blackburn four; QPR and Fulham three.
Powell is still Stoke’s five-goal joint top scorer but has been out of the starting XI on 12 occasions. It would be a big whack to any team to lose their most influential man.