Preview Panel - Stoke

We've the perfect mix for our latest Preview Panel as we look ahead to tonight's big Carabao Cup quarter-final at Stoke (5.30pm) - Oliver Skipp, currently starring on loan at Norwich, played Stoke a month ago; Paul McVeigh, another Spurs Academy graduate, was capped 20 times by Northern Ireland and knows Michael O'Neill's work inside-out and Peter Smith, who follows Stoke up and down the country in his role at the Stoke Sentinal.

Introducing the panel

Oliver Skipp - Born in Welwyn Garden City and brought up in Hertford, Academy graduate 'Skippy' featured 23 times in first team action by the age of 20. He made his debut in October, 2018 and was a regular member in the squad that reached the Champions League Final in 2019. He made another 11 appearances in 2019/20 and was loaned to Norwich this season, impressing in his stint so far in the Championship.

Paul McVeigh - Paul joined us as a schoolboy in 1992 and came through the ranks to sign professional forms in 1996. He played four times for us before moving to Norwich City in 2000. He played over 200 times for the Canaries before a switch to Luton, and then returned to finish his career at Carrow Road in 2010. He earned 20 caps for Northern Ireland.

Peter Smith - A Stoke City reporter since 2013, Peter started his career in journalism at the Post & Times series in 2008 before moving to The Sentinel in 2011. He travels home and away with the Potters, including overseas in pre-season.

Oliver Skipp

"The first thing I remember is they are dangerous at set-pieces, one of the centre-halves is six-foot-seven (Harry Souttar) and they have a lot of players with experience of playing in the Premier League, like John Obi Mikel (unlikely to be fit), Sam Vokes, James Chester and Joe Allen. I'm sure they will be solid defensively, especially against Spurs. I've seen a stat where they've kept six clean sheets in their last seven. Having said that, we went 3-0 up against them when we won 3-2 there last month (23 November)! We scored some really good goals that day, forward runs, movement in behind. We wanted to move their defenders around. We then had a man sent off, so in the second half they played it forward quickly, got numbers in the box and put us under pressure, but we saw it out to win."

Paul McVeigh

"I know that Michael O’Neill is so incredibly disciplined and well-prepared, his teams are always very well set up in terms of each player knowing exactly what his job is and it probably wouldn’t be too dissimilar to Jose Mourinho where a player has a job and he needs to do that job, which obviously is why Mourinho has been so successful in his career and also why Michael has the record that he does with the Northern Ireland team and also with Stoke, and seeing how well they’re doing at the moment. I think they’re both incredibly well-disciplined managers who pass that onto their teams and that’s why they’re always very difficult to beat.

"It was a counter-attacking style that he went with at Northern Ireland, probably similar to the way that Spurs are setting up at the moment, willing to soak up the pressure and making sure that the space is always in the opposition’s half. Whenever a team is attacking you, okay, you might be defending on the back foot but you know the opponents are very vulnerable because all of the space on the pitch is then in the opposition’s half. Michael’s teams are about hitting people on the counter-attack, so it’s going to be a really interesting game. It’s going to be a tough one for Spurs, not having gone to Stoke for a little while now, but they’ve been flying lately and it’s so good to see my old team doing so well and having been top of the league recently. I’ve never seen it in all my time and connections with Spurs since 1994, it’s been an absolute pleasure to see the boys doing so well and having a real chance of getting some silverware this year."

Peter Smith

"Michael O'Neill has put the emphasis on progress and it's certainly been that. In fact, it's the first time that Stoke are in a better position at Christmas than they were the previous year since 2015. No one has kept more clean sheets in England in 2020 and they haven't let a goal in yet in the Carabao Cup. That's despite the fact that they'll be onto their fourth keeper of the season against Spurs thanks to injuries to Adam Davies and Angus Gunn, and Joe Bursik being cup-tied. When everyone's fit they've had one of the Championship's best attacks too. It's a big blow to lose Tyrese Campbell, who was in electric form before he was ruled out for the season with a knee injury. It's been a frantic few months, playing every mid-week and weekend barring international breaks but there is a big team ethic, a lot of discipline and hard work. The slow return from long-term injury of key men including Joe Allen and Ryan Shawcross mean there's real hope of a challenge for the play-offs.

"The fixture list has been so hectic that we're expecting Michael O'Neill to make a few changes but he'll want to put out a strong side. He says at this stage you have to give it everything. There might be a chance for (ex-Spur) Tashan Oakley-Boothe, who has been working his way into the fold since joining in January. It's pretty clear that they won't go gung-ho. They'll try to make it as difficult as possible for Spurs and hope to be ruthless with any chance they get. No one is under any illusions that Stoke are anything but underdogs. They'll fight for everything and they might need a dream debut from whoever gets the nod in goal. It's unbelievable that they're without at least five keepers but what a night it will be for either 19-year-old Blondy Nna Noukeu or 37-year-old Andy Lonergan, who only arrived as an emergency free agent signing last month."

Jose previews Stoke