WILL KEEPER FIELDING ADD HIS NAME TO UNIQUE STOKE LIST?
THERE is a list of names of goalkeepers who have signed for Stoke City but never played a game.
Jani Viander, Ben Foster, Boaz Myhill, Niki Maenpaa, Marton Fulop feature on that - and so, perhaps, soon, could Frank Fielding, who is joining as cover.
Joe Bursik could be out until February, but Adam Davies is trusted with the gloves and Jack Bonham signed as a free agent in the summer after leaving Gillingham.
England under-18s stopper - and former British youth martial arts champion - Tommy Simkin has been the third keeper on match days over the last fortnight, while Nathan Broome and Robbie Hemfrey are with the under-23s.
But Michael O’neill has probably endured enough injuries over the last couple of seasons to know it is better to be prepared.
It was at a similar stage last season when he was suddenly without six keepers in the run up to a Carabao Cup quarter-final against Spurs.
Davies, Angus Gunn, Maenpaa and Nathan Broome were injured, Bursik was cup-tied and Andy Lonergan - the emergency recruit when the emergency recruit bust his thumb - was ill. In the end, Lonergan was passed fit to make his first and last appearance, impressing despite a 3-1 defeat.
Fielding is familiar to O’neill’s assistant Dean Holden, who worked with him for three seasons at Bristol City, where the keeper was a big fans’ favourite following his role in a team that won promotion to the Championship in 2015.
He was a regular under Steve Cotterill and Lee Johnson before his career was hit after contracting and having to recover from viral meningitis in 2018. He earned his place back in the first team only to chip a bone and dislocate his thumb.
The injury was obviously painful, the illness was devastating. He had a two-day stay in Southmead Hospital, including a lumber puncture to take fluid off his spine to relieve the pressure in his head.
“I’d been training and went home and felt absolutely horrible, a headache that I can’t put into words or describe the pain that I was in,” he said at the time.
“It was challenging coming out of hospital because you think you’re getting better and then one day you feel completely awful.
“I had three weeks at home not doing a lot including being sat in darkness for a couple of weeks. I started going outside but the light was irritating me a lot and I’d go out on an overcast day with sunglasses on, walking around the marina in Portishead.
“The club doctor Jonathan Williams has been amazing because he came to see me every day at home to make sure I was alright.
“The same with the gaffer, Dean (Holden) and Macca (Jamie Mcallister) – Andy Rolls (Head of Performance) and all the medical staff, the physios Andrew Proctor and Gill Holt - because they haven’t put any pressure on me coming back.”
It was Maenpaa who ultimately became Fielding’s successor and the latter was released at the end of his contract in 2019.
Bristollive explained: “Fielding will be fondly remembered by supporters, not only for his ability between the posts but also his personable, humble and everyman demeanour at odds with the often detached world of modern football.
“The fact he played four matches in excruciating pain and with an injury that eventually required surgery will only heighten his standing.”
Fielding joined Millwall - but suffered an injury midway through
his debut against Preston North End on the opening day of the season, tearing his quad like Bursik has done now on England under-21s duty.
He was replaced by new signing Bart Bialkowski - and then suffered an arm injury when he returned to training.
It was September 2020 by the time he was back in full swing.
He returned to play in two FA Cup games, including a defeat to Holden’s Bristol City, and was released by Rowett at the end of the season.
Rowett had said: “He’s just desperate to keep healthy, keep fit, keep training and enjoy his football.
“(The FA Cup selection) was a little reward in some ways after he was out for so long and having a good attitude. But what you also saw during the game is that he’s an excellent goalkeeper. He’s played at a very good level and he’s one we trust.”
Fielding had been an England youth keeper himself and, back when he was with Blackburn Rovers, received a senior call up from Fabio Capello in 2010 following the withdrawal of Foster.
He moved on to Derby, where he spent two full seasons, before heading to Ashton Gate.
It is his shot stopping that has been his most eye-catching attribute and he had suggested he was coming into his peak years before the set-backs at Millwall.
It remains to be seen if or how much they will be seen at Stoke.