‘I’VE POTT TO KEEP MY COOL’
GARY ROWETT returns to the Stoke dugout today after admitting it has been a struggle containing his frustration this term.
The Potters boss (above) was sent to the stands last weekend in a 1-0 home defeat to his old club Birmingham.
Rowett later accepted a £2,000 FA fine and served a one-match touchline ban in the 1-1 draw at Sheffield United on Tuesday.
And he admitted: “At times this season I’ve got frustrated probably quicker than I normally would as I can see what players here are capable of doing.
“But frustration doesn’t get you more points, it gets you a £2,000 fine and a one-match ban. I’ve got great belief though that we will get what we deserve.”
Rowett acknowledges he faces high expectations at the relegated Potters who spent big this summer.
He added: “I think the expectations are that we’re Stoke City, we’ve spent plenty of money and we feel we should be higher than we are.
“Until we’re sat in the top six, until we’re sat in the top two, people are always going to be disappointed.”
Bristol City chief Lee Johnson has assured keeper Max O’Leary, 22, that he can make the first-team shirt his own this season.
The academy product from Bath has played in the last two league games, keeping clean sheets in victories over Brentford and Hull.
With Niki Maenpaa still struggling to overcome an adductor muscle injury and Frank Fielding recovering from viral meningitis, O’Leary will face Stoke.
Johnson said: “I have great faith in our academy players and it is not my policy to leave players out when they are performing well.
“Max has taken to Championship football with great maturity. As long as that remains the case the shirt is his, irrespective of his age.” Amex Stadium: 3pm Chief Football Writer @johncrossmirror
EVERY club should have a Solly March on its books.
The local boy made good has to battle for his place whenever a more glamorous name arrives yet it feels like the fans sing his name the loudest. On the south coast he’s become a real cult hero.
“Being local, the fans get behind you a bit more when things are going well or even going well,” said the 24-year-old Brighton star, who dropped down to nonLeague level (with nearby Lewes) before becoming a Premier League regular.
“Me and Dunky (Lewis Dunk) are local lads – they love that and want to see more of it.
“When they chant my name it lifts me. If you’re feeling tired then it gives you a second wind. They lift you and it helps the team.”
March embodies what Brighton are all about: Battling against the odds and refusing to give up.
The England Under-21 winger left Lewes for Brighton as a 17-year-old before the club moved to its new stateof-the-art training ground.
March (in action, right) has been a regular for the past five years, his tireless enthusiasm making him a fan favourite. The Solly March song is a big feature of every Brighton home game.
He says victories two seasons running over Manchester United show the turnnot around fortunes
“The Man United game last season was so big for us and then to beat them again this season shows we can beat the big teams.
To look back upon where we’ve come from to where we are now is incredible,” he said.
“We used to train at the university, we’d share the changing rooms with uni students. in Brighton’s M nic caus wand bit grim do dull buildin where we ar “My tim me appre come fro yet if you co way it can m