Stoke & Staffordshire

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  1. A view of the inside of Burton Albion's Pirelli Stadium with the club emblem beside the pitch

  3. A woman with long blonde hair, glasses on top f her head, a green dress and a lanyard, smiles as she leans on a railing. She is standing on a balcony with a 3G football pitch behind her.

  4. Water fills the inside of the structure that is visible, reaching perimeter walls and a large window. Trees, grass and water outside are in the background.

  5. EFL match ball

  6. A woman with long blonde hair and glasses with another woman with glasses alongside her

  7. Stoke confirm departure of assistant manager Nevin

    Paul Nevin standing just behind head coach Mark Robins on the touchline Shutterstock

    Paul Nevin (left) arrived as part of Mark Robins' backroom staff 13 months ago

    Stoke City assistant manager Paul Nevin has left the Championship club.

    The 56-year-old joined in January 2025 following Mark Robins' appointment as manager, and was named as part of his backroom team.

    He's been alongside Robins for 13 months, with the Potters 14th in the Championship.

    Sporting director Jonathan Walters told the club website: "Paul leaves with our gratitude for his contribution during his time with the club and best wishes for his future career."

  8. A woman wearing a navy dress with balloon sleeves, stands outside whilst holding an award in her hands.

  9. Three lines of road. The central lane has a few vehicles in the distance and the other two are busier. There are a number of electric pylons and some buildings on the left-hand side of the road.

  10. A vandalised piece of furniture in a clubhouse. White paint has been thrown across it and items are cluttered on top of the unit and on the floor.

  11. Three police officers standing in front of a blue background with the staffordshire police logo printed all over it. Two women have blonde hair tied back and are wearing black police jackets with large silver buttons. On the left, the woman has several red badges on her breast and badges on her shoulders. The other woman has a black and white checked tie. There is a man in the middle holding a certificate. he is wearing a black jacket, white shirt and black tie

  12. Councillor Maxine Clark - a woman with long blonde hair and wearing a black feathery top with a green shirt - smiling as she stands in front of a white wall.

  13. Stoke celebrate goal

  14. A grey concrete building with a large sign on it. The sign has blue writing which reads "unite the union" and has a red flame-like shape above it

  15. A man with receding white hair, a white goatee beard, black glasses wearing a black and grey coat stands in a graveyard next to a woman with short white hair wearing a green jumper and green apron.

  16. Tim Warwood stood on a purple-lit stage in a light pink shirt and black trousers. He is smiling and pointing and has short dark hair and is clean shaven.

  17. 'Other people can criticise' - Robins backs keeper

    Robins: 'We can be pleased with a lot of elements of that performance'

    Stoke City boss Mark Robins has defended young goalkeeper Tommy Simkin after his mistake handed Fulham a late winner in their FA Cup fourth-round tie.

    The match looked to be heading for extra time after Fulham's Kevin cancelled out Bae Jun-Ho's first-half opener.

    But Harrison Reed intercepted a pass from Simkin, making his ninth Potters appearance in place of the injured Viktor Johansson, and Gavin Bazunu fired past the 21-year-old keeper to seal a 2-1 win.

    "My teams play football and we want try and do that as well as we possibly can do," Robins told BBC Radio Stoke.

    "The ball in that instance can go as far out the stadium as it needs to for me with four minutes to go when you're being pressed. Don't play into the press when the player's coming straight down the line of the pass.

    "Tommy will learn from that, he'll get on with it and that's all you can ask from him. Other people can criticise.

    "Unfortunately you've got to go through some of these moments when you're a young goalkeeper that's come in, and he's performing really, really well in the absence of Gavin and Viktor."

    Robins has called on the rest of his players to learn from their near miss going into the Championship run-in.

    "Trying to win the game was the mindset, to try and go through and go as far as you can in the competition," he added.

    "We almost did it but I don't want to be an almost, nearly team and we will come out with better results in the future.

    "It is disappointing to go out, but now it's done we look back and we can be pleased with a lot of elements of that performance to take into the 14 games that we have left."

  18. A blue bar police light on top of a police car which has a yellow roof and we can see the side windows.

  19. Change in formation offers hope for Potters

    Mark Elliott
    BBC Radio Stoke’s Stoke City commentator

    Stoke city manager Mark Robins looks firmly ahead with a focused expression on his face. he wears a black puffer coat with the stoke city badge on it.Getty Images

    They say necessity is the mother of invention and even in defeat against Fulham, Mark Robins and Stoke City may have found a way forward.

    Stoke are without something approaching a full team through injury and that has played a major part in the collapse of their promotion challenge.

    But despite only having a couple of training sessions in which to implement it, Robins' decision to turn away from the 4-2-3-1 he's predominantly used this season almost helped his team to an FA Cup upset.

    With the run of results they've been on, the 3-4-2-1 they deployed felt like something fresh and the Potters certainly have the personnel to play it.

    They've always had an abundance of good centre-backs and Eric Bocat looks more comfortable in a wing-back role than he does as an orthodox full-back where his defensive deficiencies can be exposed.

    He was excellent going forward throughout the game against top-flight opposition.

    The change necessitated the selection of top scorer Sorba Thomas in a deeper role but ahead of him Bae Jun-ho and Lamine Cisse were lively.

    Aaron Cresswell came in to offer quality distribution out of the back three and an extra defender behind him could liberate Tomas Rigo in midfield.

    Stoke haven't got the depth to rotate their wing-backs, particularly with Junior Tchamadeu out injured, but with only 14 league games to go, the new formation looks like a legitimate short to medium term option.

  20. Shire Hall in Stafford, a stone building with a clock at its centre above four central pillars. There is an open public square and a number of ornate lampposts in front of the building. There are nine large windows on the building and black railings immediately in front of it.

  21. A town centre with a church in the centre of the image and market stalls in the foreground. There are pubs and shops surrounding an open public square.

  22. A group of five boys all in blue hoodies holding a trophy made of Lego. They have mainly brown or dark hair and are all smiling.

  23. A bend in the M6 toll with some blue signs above it. There is a central reservation and a number of cars and a lorry travelling on both sides of the road. There are trees on the sides of the road.

  24. A busy town centre with people walking along a pedestrian street. There is a canopy on both sides above shop fronts.

  25. A stock picture of a female nurse in blue medical scrubs and white plastic apron. She is wearing blue gloves and a face mask and holding a vaccination needle in front of her.