MATCHWATCH : Stoke City (h)

[NathStPaul]

Hope we can pick up a win, if we do it will likely be very ugly. A win here coupled with bad results for Derby and Barnsley is obviously ideal, the sooner we are safe/more or less safe the better. We need to get those players who will be here next season on the pitch, the likes of Clarke and Camara for example. Get safe, give the youngsters minutes.

[South Coast Royal]

Don't like this fixture just because we don't tend to do well against Stoke, in terms of results. We didn't play that badly in the reverse in all fairness but still ended up on the wrong side of the scoreline.

A bit of a reverse from Saturday though, we were playing a team where we have a good record, now we are playing a team where we don't. Then again, we've managed to buck a couple of trends this season, Swansea away and Birmingham at home, for example.

If we can pick up a point, that would be good again. If we can pick up all 3, that would be massive. If we win our next 2 games, it's done. If we get 3-4 points, that's good. =<2 points will depend on others' results around us really. 2 defeats wouldn't be good, but if the other 3 below us all lose when they play, at least it chalks more games off.

I've never paid too much attention to record. Too many variables, different players, different managers, different seasons.

It is what it is now. We have a squad I believe wouldn't be out of place fighting for a playoff spot and Stoke are firmly midtable. No reason we can't batter them. Of course morale, contracts etc dont' help but if we can rise above that this game is ours.

Can't agree about us having a squad that "wouldn't be out of place fighting for a play off spot", otherwise I agree that past record shouldn't count for much because the make up of teams and even the way teams play under different managers varies so much from season to season.

I believe that Stoke have had almost as many injuries as us with their star centre-back missing all (?) of the season.

My one worry , no my main worry, about tomorrow night is if Fletcher has any game time-he is such a good header of the ball and despite his age is still dangerous.

[morganb]

Injury update on former Reading FC favourite Lewis Baker as Stoke City gear up for Royals trip

Boss O'Neill told Radio Stoke on Saturday: "We had a blow with losing Lewis Baker in training on Thursday. It's a bit early to say if Lewis will be available [for the Reading game].

"The injury is a little bit complicated. It's on the outside of his knee, and we thought there might have been a little fracture, but there's not. There's sort of congealed blood and we need to see if that can be alleviated between now and Tuesday

"He's in quite a lot of pain, he's limping, and we won't take any unnecessary chances with him, but ideally, it'll be good if he can be fit."

[Hendo]

Not that you'd ever want to see someone injured, but if he missed out on Tuesday night, I certainly won't be complaining!

[Snowflake Royal]

I do think Drinkwater is considerably fitter now than he was a few months ago.
He looked out on his feet so often in the first half of the season.

It's true. But it's worth remembering that Drinkwater's excellent performance was a biscuit from a significantly less good one.

He made about a dozen full stretch toe pokes away to safety. In other games he's been unable to reach those.

How much of that was specific to Barnsley and how much is better fitness / performance, we'll see.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

I do think Drinkwater is considerably fitter now than he was a few months ago.
He looked out on his feet so often in the first half of the season.

It's true. But it's worth remembering that Drinkwater's excellent performance was a biscuit from a significantly less good one.

He made about a dozen full stretch toe pokes away to safety. In other games he's been unable to reach those.

How much of that was specific to Barnsley and how much is better fitness / performance, we'll see.

Probably a little bit of both, but I'd prefer to favour the performance aspect naturally, being able to read the game and anticipate quicker than usual. In fairness to him, those collectively culminated for a good performance on Saturday, that much cannot be denied. It was as good as I've seen from him and you could see why he has played at the level he has based on Saturday's performance. If we can get that consistently for the rest of the season, I'll be happy with that.

As unrealistic as it would be due to wages, I wouldn't even be against taking him for next season.

[URZZZZ]

I do think Drinkwater is considerably fitter now than he was a few months ago.
He looked out on his feet so often in the first half of the season.

It's true. But it's worth remembering that Drinkwater's excellent performance was a biscuit from a significantly less good one.

He made about a dozen full stretch toe pokes away to safety. In other games he's been unable to reach those.

How much of that was specific to Barnsley and how much is better fitness / performance, we'll see.

Probably a little bit of both, but I'd prefer to favour the performance aspect naturally, being able to read the game and anticipate quicker than usual. In fairness to him, those collectively culminated for a good performance on Saturday, that much cannot be denied. It was as good as I've seen from him and you could see why he has played at the level he has based on Saturday's performance. If we can get that consistently for the rest of the season, I'll be happy with that.

As unrealistic as it would be due to wages, I wouldn't even be against taking him for next season.

As someone who doesn’t mind Drinkwater, I wouldn’t be taking him back, and I don’t think he’d want to either. Need a fresh approach to transfers

[YorkshireRoyal99]

It's true. But it's worth remembering that Drinkwater's excellent performance was a biscuit from a significantly less good one.

He made about a dozen full stretch toe pokes away to safety. In other games he's been unable to reach those.

How much of that was specific to Barnsley and how much is better fitness / performance, we'll see.

Probably a little bit of both, but I'd prefer to favour the performance aspect naturally, being able to read the game and anticipate quicker than usual. In fairness to him, those collectively culminated for a good performance on Saturday, that much cannot be denied. It was as good as I've seen from him and you could see why he has played at the level he has based on Saturday's performance. If we can get that consistently for the rest of the season, I'll be happy with that.

As unrealistic as it would be due to wages, I wouldn't even be against taking him for next season.

As someone who doesn’t mind Drinkwater, I wouldn’t be taking him back, and I don’t think he’d want to either. Need a fresh approach to transfers

It was more to do with consistency above anything else. Having him back for another season in midfield with his quality and experience would be a benefit to us rather than a hinderance next season. As said though, his interest and wages would prevent that. If he was affordable, there would be worse pieces of business to be done than having him stick around.

[Zip]

Drinkwater would be affordable. He is 32 now and already earnt his many millions. He won’t be getting a big contract anywhere once his Chelsea contract expires in the summer.
I can only see Championship teams being interested in him.

[Hendo]

If he wouldn't mind being on around £10k/week, I'd happily have him back for another season.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

If he wouldn't mind being on around £10k/week, I'd happily have him back for another season.

That's what I mean, but I don't think he would want to stick on that kind of money. If he does, I'll take him for sure. I'd maybe say anything between £10-15k. If he's wanting Swift-level wages, I'd turn away for obvious reasons.

[Hendo]

If he wouldn't mind being on around £10k/week, I'd happily have him back for another season.

That's what I mean, but I don't think he would want to stick on that kind of money. If he does, I'll take him for sure. I'd maybe say anything between £10-15k. If he's wanting Swift-level wages, I'd turn away for obvious reasons.

Yeah +1 to that. £15k, I might feel a bit uncomfortable, unless it was just a 1 year deal.

[Snowflake Royal]

No thanks, too many basic errors qnd doesn’t reallh manage the pace of the game.

If I'm going to settle for basic errors I'd rather Tetek or Osorio were making them

[Norfolk Royal]

Is this game available to watch on Royals TV or just audio? Can't work it out from the website. They really ought to sort that out.

[Snowflake Royal]

Is this game available to watch on Royals TV or just audio? Can't work it out from the website. They really ought to sort that out.

As a rule just audio without a vpn, but there is sometimes a deal for video, but usually publicised as such.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

No thanks, too many basic errors qnd doesn’t reallh manage the pace of the game.

If I'm going to settle for basic errors I'd rather Tetek or Osorio were making them

But he's currently a much better player than both of those though. Not that I don't want Tetek and Osorio to do well for the club and not that they aren't talented players, but Drinkwater is obviously much better than both. It also depends what you class as "basic" errors and when you look at what he can give you when he plays well, I'd settle for that in this side.

[Snowflake Royal]

No thanks, too many basic errors qnd doesn’t reallh manage the pace of the game.

If I'm going to settle for basic errors I'd rather Tetek or Osorio were making them

But he's currently a much better player than both of those though. Not that I don't want Tetek and Osorio to do well for the club and not that they aren't talented players, but Drinkwater is obviously much better than both. It also depends what you class as "basic" errors and when you look at what he can give you when he plays well, I'd settle for that in this side.

Is he?

I don't think that's true in how he performs. Certainly for Tetek. Tetek can manage the pace of the game better. I think he makes fewer basic passing errors. I think he tackles more reliably. I think he's more likely to hold position.

Danny Drinkwater, as a highly 'talented' and experienced player, at defensive midfield, makes more inaccurate short passes than any of our other defenders or midfielders.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

No thanks, too many basic errors qnd doesn’t reallh manage the pace of the game.

If I'm going to settle for basic errors I'd rather Tetek or Osorio were making them

But he's currently a much better player than both of those though. Not that I don't want Tetek and Osorio to do well for the club and not that they aren't talented players, but Drinkwater is obviously much better than both. It also depends what you class as "basic" errors and when you look at what he can give you when he plays well, I'd settle for that in this side.

Is he?

I don't think that's true in how he performs. Certainly for Tetek. Tetek can manage the pace of the game better. I think he makes fewer basic passing errors. I think he tackles more reliably. I think he's more likely to hold position.

Danny Drinkwater, as a highly 'talented' and experienced player, at defensive midfield, makes more inaccurate short passes than any of our other defenders or midfielders.

Well I wouldn't play them in the same roles because that's not Drinkwater's strength, but in terms of reliability in tackling, Drinkwater's numbers were as good as you'd see for most holding midfielders in this league on Saturday. Of course it's just one game and consistency is key, but yes, the overall opinion is that Drinkwater is a better player than Tetek. It's hard to argue against it tbh.

[NathStPaul]

But he's currently a much better player than both of those though. Not that I don't want Tetek and Osorio to do well for the club and not that they aren't talented players, but Drinkwater is obviously much better than both. It also depends what you class as "basic" errors and when you look at what he can give you when he plays well, I'd settle for that in this side.

Is he?

I don't think that's true in how he performs. Certainly for Tetek. Tetek can manage the pace of the game better. I think he makes fewer basic passing errors. I think he tackles more reliably. I think he's more likely to hold position.

Danny Drinkwater, as a highly 'talented' and experienced player, at defensive midfield, makes more inaccurate short passes than any of our other defenders or midfielders.

Well I wouldn't play them in the same roles because that's not Drinkwater's strength, but in terms of reliability in tackling, Drinkwater's numbers were as good as you'd see for most holding midfielders in this league on Saturday. Of course it's just one game and consistency is key, but yes, the overall opinion is that Drinkwater is a better player than Tetek. It's hard to argue against it tbh.

It is not about who is better, it is about who is here next season and needs the experience. Danny Drinkwater will go to another club stupid enough to pay him whilst we will rely on our youth players to carry us forward. We need to get them in as soon as possible.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Is he?

I don't think that's true in how he performs. Certainly for Tetek. Tetek can manage the pace of the game better. I think he makes fewer basic passing errors. I think he tackles more reliably. I think he's more likely to hold position.

Danny Drinkwater, as a highly 'talented' and experienced player, at defensive midfield, makes more inaccurate short passes than any of our other defenders or midfielders.

Well I wouldn't play them in the same roles because that's not Drinkwater's strength, but in terms of reliability in tackling, Drinkwater's numbers were as good as you'd see for most holding midfielders in this league on Saturday. Of course it's just one game and consistency is key, but yes, the overall opinion is that Drinkwater is a better player than Tetek. It's hard to argue against it tbh.

It is not about who is better, it is about who is here next season and needs the experience. Danny Drinkwater will go to another club stupid enough to pay him whilst we will rely on our youth players to carry us forward. We need to get them in as soon as possible.

We worry about that if we survive, for now, we need to consistently get our best players on the pitch, for which he is one of them in midfield.