Stoke City vs Burnley

Good evening and welcome to the Bet 365 Stadium for tonight's Championship clash between Stoke City and Burnley. The Clarets are top of the table and in ...

It was a difficult first half for everyone and so it is difficult to assess him objectively. Benson cut inside and his cross shot was deflected at a snail's pace towards the far post. We weren't awesome on the ball but we did everything we needed to do to stay solid which was good. It wasn't our best performance on the ball, 1) was the quality of Stoke 2) we lacked the efficiency and clean enough in the final third. Players have got to be patient and work hard and be ready for when the chance comes because it will come. Fox's chance was very similar to the goal but we don't convert. The forward was a threat and almost stole in after a mix up between Aro Muric and Ian Maatsen let him in but the angle was tight and his effort rolled across goal. On that occasion the Clarets were over-run in the second half by a physical side who caused problem after problem from corners and long throws. That will delight Kompany and the players as much as the cavalcade of goals in recent weeks, with the winner here scrambled in by Josh Cullen after some amateur defending by the hosts. It's now five on the bounce and nine in 10 for the Clarets who regained their three point buffer to Sheffield United and opened up a chasm of a gap to third place Blackburn Rovers, that margin now stands at 14 points. The changes had an impact as Burnley began to assert themselves a little more on the contest but the opening goal owed much more to Stoke's hapless defending than any Clarets quality. Neither side were able to build any rhythm in a first half devoid of quality.