Stoke City v Burnley
Off to the Brit
By TheLongside.co.uk
March 17 2006
New signings Phil Bardsley and Andy Gray are expected to make their debuts at Stoke this weekend as the Clarets go in search of some much needed points. The Longside brings you the team news ahead of the weekend's game.
Stoke City v Burnley
It certainly is a timely boost for us, coming off the back of five straight defeats in which we've scored just one goal. Gray is a proven goal scorer at this level, whilst Bardsley has appeared in 15 of Manchester United's games this season, filling in well for Gary Neville when Neville has been out through injury. Let's hope the two new players can give us the lift we need to ease ourselves towards safety.
Now finding ourselves down in 17th place, the Clarets are looking worryingly over their shoulders at the four teams at the bottom. Fortunately it looks like it will be a straight four-way fight between Crewe, Brighton, Millwall and Sheffield Wednesday. We must however start picking up points to steer clear of any involvement in a relegation battle, starting Saturday.
The Stanley Matthews tribute outside the Britannia Stadium
As well as the two new signings, more good news for Burnley fans came on Monday when Steve Cotterill finally put pen to paper on a new four and a half year contract at Turf Moor. Not bad timing when you consider we’re going to the ground where Steve is affectionately referred to as 'Quiterill'. It's taken Stoke fans a while to get over his sudden departure from the Brit and there will no doubt be more boos for our boss this weekend.
Last season was a fine example of a warm welcome back to the Britannia for Cotterill. It was Steve’s first game back there since walking out on them for the assistant manager’s job at Sunderland some three years before. Cotterill came out to boos, left the ground to boos, but also left having had the last laugh by taking all three points courtesy of a Gary Cahill winner.
Cahill achieved hero status that day at Stoke having already impressed in games during his hugely successful loan spell, but this was the game when the Burnley fans really took him to their hearts. The game was heading for a 0-0 draw, but Burnley were always looking the more likely to score if anyone, and in the 79th minute our new hero got the winner in front of the travelling Clarets.
A corner came in and Stoke keeper Steve Simonson made a mess of it. An almighty scramble ensued, and there was Cahill to shin it in past the Stoke player on the line, none other than Ade Akinbiyi, who not long after was to be a Burnley player, signing for the Clarets a month later.
It was in fact that man Akinbiyi who got the winner this season for Burnley against his old club in our game against Stoke at the Turf on Boxing Day. We reached fifth position that day, but like Stoke, we have won just the one game since New Year, runs which have seen both clubs plummet from being on the verge of the play-offs, to struggling in the bottom half of the table.
Onto the teams then, and Burnley are expected to hand debuts to both Phil Bardsley and Andy Gray, whilst Micah Hyde will undergo a late fitness test after being substituted during the 3-0 defeat at Derby. Hyde picked up a knee injury in that game and Cotterill will hope the influential midfielder will be able to recover in time for Saturday.
Stoke meanwhile are hoping that former Claret loanee Luke Chadwick will be fit to play after recovering from a hamstring injury and general fatigue. However, defender Carl Hoefkens, and midfield duo Dave Brammer and Darel Russell are struggling to recover in time for the game.
There's almost an air of positivity around the club following a week in which we've seen our manager sign a new contract until 2010, and two fantastic signings unveiled in Bardsley and Gray. Let's hope the positivity rubs off onto the pitch and we return to Burnley having picked up some very welcome points.
Come on you Clarets.
Special thanks as always to Tim Rigby for the images.