Stoke City boss makes blunt admission ahead of Sheffield Wednesday clash

Stoke City boss Steven Schumacher has been speaking about his side’s ‘poor performance’ against Swansea City on Wednesday night. The Potters are one of Sheffield Wednesday’s relegation rivals, currently just three points above the relegation zone, and indeed the Owls.

Stoke had the chance to add to that gap on Wednesday when they took on Swansea City away from home, but they ‘fell short’, according to their boss. “I felt we got beat by the better team on the night, Swansea in all departments were better than us,” said Schumacher after the game.

“They won all of the battles, the 50:50s and they also passed the ball better and were brighter from set-piece moments. It was a poor performance from us and it’s one that we weren’t expecting because we’ve been playing really well. We just fell a bit low tonight and we got punished. That’s the Championship for you, if you’re not at it 100 per cent you can get turned over.”

Stoke did have a goal ruled out during the game, with Niall Ennis seeing a goal chalked off, while Swansea were also given a penalty. “There’s also a few key decisions that’s gone against us,” added the Stoke boss. “In any game in the Championship you need those big decisions to go for you, tonight unfortunately they didn’t go our way. I won’t use that as an excuse because the overall performance wasn’t good enough and they (Swansea) were better anyway.” Stoke and Wednesday now face off this weekend with just three points between them, though the Potters do have a much superior goal difference. The next two games could be crucial for the Potters, given they face another relegation-threatened side in Plymouth Argyle after they face the Owls.