Stoke City (A) | Match Preview
The Game
Stoke City v Argyle. bet365 Stadium. Saturday, 20 April. 3pm. Sky Bet Championship.
The Gaffer
Steven Schumacher will need little introduction to the Green Army, as the former manager of Argyle from December 2021 to December 2023. In his 94 league games in charge of the Greens, he boasted an impressive 54.3% win ratio. In his playing career, Schumacher started at Everton, also representing Bradford City, Crewe Alexandra, Bury, Fleetwood Town, Stevenage and Southport, for whom he had a stint as caretaker manager.
The Opposition
Stoke City’s season has been turbulent, seeing various ups and down. After 14 games, the Potters were 11th, having drawn just one game. No wins in the next eight led to the dismissal of Alex Neil, with Steven Schumacher taking over. After an initially good start, Stoke fell back into a pattern of not drawing, and losing more than they won. In their last five games, they have won one, lost one and drawn three, their most recent outing a 1-1 draw away to Sheffield Wednesday.
The Squad
Stoke's leading goalscorer this season is André Vidigal (below), who has six league goals and one in cup action. Typically playing up front or wide on the left, Vidigal signed from Maritimo in his native Portugal, having begun his career at Academica, also in Portugal, before a spell with Fortuna Sittard in the Netherlands.
No-one has started more league games for the Potters this season than central defender Michael Rose. This has been his first season at Stoke, following three-and-a-half years at Coventry. Before that, he began his career with hometown club Aberdeen, but had his breakthrough at Ayr United.
Rose is likely to play alongside Luke McNally in the Stoke back four. McNally is on loan from Burnley, for whom he joined in 2022. He spent the back end of the 2022/23 season on loan at Coventry City. Born in Ireland, he began his career with St Patrick’s Athletic, then moved to Oxford United before heading to Turf Moor.
Earlier This Season
In one of the most dramatic moments of the season, Argyle won the home clash with Stoke, 2-1, with an Adam Randell goal deep into injury time. It was Randell’s first Home Park goal, and it sent the Green Army into raptures. Stoke had taken the lead in the first half via Tyrese Campbell, with Argyle levelling before the interval through Mustapha Bundu.
A Strip for the Trip
Argyle will be wearing their green home kit for this game.
Tickets
There is a ticket update on returns and collections, here.
Argyle TV
Argyle TV’s pre-match show, with Alex Wood and Brian McGlinchey, will begin at 2pm, and is available to watch for free on YouTube. Commentary will be provided from the bet365 Stadium by Charlie Price and Ryan Brunt. International supporters can buy a match pass to watch the game, here.
