' Stoke = a difficult game ahead '

After today's excellent result for Cardiff, we turn our focus on Stoke at home next Saturday.

Stoke have a relatively poor away record with 2 wins, 4 draws and 11 defeats, goals for 15, against 33.

Elsewhere, I wrote about catalyst games, such as the dreadful 0-4 defeat to Hull, providing a catalyst for some very good performances in Cardiff's next five games. Last season, it was the 5-4 defeat to Charlton that led to Malky Mackay utilising a much more defensive team ethic resulting in an excellent run which took Cardiff away from the chasing pack at the top of the Championship.

Back to Stoke and they had two away results at the end of December, 5-1 to Newcastle who were very much in form at that time, followed by another heavy defeat 3-0 to Spurs.

Looking at results and away performances since those two defeats and you will see a totally different style of play (and results) from Stoke.

January saw them have three consecutive 1-0 defeats (including an FA Cup game against Chelsea).

February they drew 2-2 at Southampton, followed by another 1-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium.

March was improved further with 1-1 draw against Norwich and an impressive 1-4 win at Aston Villa, though Villa are in poor form themselves and have the third worst home record in the Barclays Premier League.

However, Stoke's most recent away trip resulted in them being outplayed and losing 3-0 at Stamford Bridge.

This defeat being their only loss in seven games, a run which has seen them gain an incredible five wins and one draw.

Sixteen points from 21 is impressive for most teams in this league and Cardiff City will find Stoke a very difficult team to beat and a different defensive proposition than Southampton.

Stoke will do their homework and have learned how to frustrate Cardiff after looking at the footage of their poor home defeat against Crystal Palace.

A draw for Cardiff would not be a terrible result and likely move them one point closer to safety.

Cardiff will need to have learned from the mistakes against Palace and play with more patience, intelligence, resilience whilst keeping a strong defensive shape from their midfield and defence.

For Cardiff, the defeat against Palace, a bad day at the office for all concerned, may yet turn out to be the catalyst for them to have a strong run in to the end of their season.

Stoke will be tougher than palace and look what happened there they are on very good form but have a look at there away record not the greatest

They beat Villa 4-1 in their last away match!

This is not the same Stoke who we should've beaten away earlier this season. Much trickier opposition now, and I'd say they are favourites.

Stoke will be tougher than palace and look what happened there they are on very good form but have a look at there away record not the greatest

Stoke are a better team than Palace but they sit mid table and don't have as much to play for as Palace had.

Stoke will be tougher than palace and look what happened there they are on very good form but have a look at there away record not the greatest

Stoke are a better team than Palace but they sit mid table and don't have as much to play for as Palace had.

I agree that Stoke are a better team than Palace, but they are aiming for the PL record points total and having that focus without pressure, they will be a VERY difficult team to beat.

Even with just four games, there is still a mini marathon left. Clearly a win would be a great result for us, but I wouldn't be disheartened with a draw, unless Sunderland, Fulham, Norwich and West Brom get a surprise draw or win.

This is the tricky game for us.

The Sunderland and Newcastle games are both very winnable, as their style of play suits us much better than playing the likes of Stoke and Palace.

I honestly don't believe the Stoke game will be as tough as the Palace game, but then I am not an admirer or fan of Mark Hughes, I rate Tony Pulis and I always thought he would tactically do Ole, but I believe Ole can come out on top with Mark Hughes and they won't be up for it like Palace were.

Watch Peter Odemwingie bag a few.

Watch Peter Odemwingie bag a few.

Jones may have a point to prove for this game too

I honestly don't believe the Stoke game will be as tough as the Palace game, but then I am not an admirer or fan of Mark Hughes, I rate Tony Pulis and I always thought he would tactically do Ole, but I believe Ole can come out on top with Mark Hughes and they won't be up for it like Palace were.

Very good points there Annis.

It opens up several game plans.

If Stoke are not up for a battle, like Palace were and IF the crowd can get behind our team before kick off and at the start of the game, do we take the game to them, hitting them hard from the off. Reminds me of Rocky Marciano saying "why Waltz with a guy for 12 rounds, when you can knock him out in one!" Effectively taking Stoke off their stride for the first 20 - 45 minutes.

Do we take a more cautious approach, playing with patience, waiting for the chances to open up.

A neutral 50-50 defence-attack or 40-60 on the sliding scale.

Looking at Stoke, confidence will be high within their camp, with much improved away performances, apart for their Chelsea defeat, since the start of the year.

They will see this game as one to win to get to their record points haul in the PL, but to also look to overtake Newcastle into 9th and then aim for Southampton.

Knowing that they will want to win too, means we will have a better understanding of the game plans that Mark Hughes will want to his team to adopt.

We all know how important it is knowing your opposition team and their likely game plans with the alleged leaks given to Palace recently.

We can beat Stoke if Ole gets it right tactically. In the too many home games against teams of similar standard to us, we have had a lot of the ball, dallied about with it without creating all that much, commited men forward and been murdered on the counter attack. I believe Stoke will play in a similar way to Palace and Hull.

It goes against his nature I know, but Ole needs to have us playing the percentages on Saturday. They must be compact, solid and difficult to score against. A draw wouldn't be terminal but a defeat most certainly would be. (I believe we will beat Sunderland and Newcastle are a shambles at the moment, but the psychological blow that would be impacted on us by a defeat would be irreperable IMO at this stage of the season).

It should be similar to Southampton - against Southampton we accepted that they would have the majority of the ball, played defensively for the majority of the game, relied on Marshall to pull off a few beasty saves and nicked a goal when we needed one. Yes, some might say lucky, some might say we were poor on the ball, but we have been poor on the ball all season, the key difference last weekend was we were set up to be solid and defend and therefore didnt cede as many point blank chances as we have in other matches.

We are underdogs, but let's not forget Stoke have nothing but professional pride and the league's integrity to play for here. Yes, their fans would love them to be the team that condemned us to relegation, but half of their players may well be on the beach subconciously. If we score first and keep it solid, we have a great chance of getting a victory. if we play as we have done against other similar teams, in other words right into their hands, I fear for us.

We can beat Stoke if Ole gets it right tactically.
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That is a big problem; you just know he'll pick someone who's been out of the picture for a while - Gunnarsson or Cowie or Tommy Smith or Matt Connelly (no just joking about the last 2) and try a different approach.

Stoke will be just like Hull and Palace. Big and strong in midfield and defence, and decent on the break. If City try to outplay them and go on the offensive, Stoke will just soak it up, wait for City to concede possession going forward (which they are very good at) and do us on the break.

City surely have to play it tight, go 4-5-1 and just hope the City can get forward enough without leaving gaping holes everywhere like at Southampton, and the midfielders support Frazier Campbell offensively. Be patient and go for the 1-0 with Zaha coming on to liven it up in the final half hour.

Not for the feint hearted!

They beat Villa 4-1 in their last away match!

Exactly

They beat Villa 4-1 in their last away match!

Exactly

Not quite right.

They lost 3-0 away to Chelsea in their last game, but beat Villa in their away game before that.

Villa are hopelessly out of form, especially at home and have now suspended their Assistant Manager and Coach.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27039466

Not sure we can read too much into their last two away games, but their overall form recently have been exceptional and their away form much more disciplined and controlled.

I honestly don't believe the Stoke game will be as tough as the Palace game, but then I am not an admirer or fan of Mark Hughes, I rate Tony Pulis and I always thought he would tactically do Ole, but I believe Ole can come out on top with Mark Hughes and they won't be up for it like Palace were.

Probably correct, Palace are giving Everton one hell of a game, what a Manager Pullis is, their players are shit, Mamager of the season along with Brenda.....