Stoke City return to Championship action this weekend at home against Birmingham City
Lamine Cisse joined Stoke from Bastia in August.(Image: Phil Greig)
Mark Robins is hoping to have a couple of potential debutants in contention when Stoke City return to Championship action this weekend.
Stoke host Birmingham City at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday (3pm) on the back of a fortnight’s international break which has seen 14 members of the squad go off to play for their countries – and summer signing Lamine Cisse have an extra two weeks to get towards match fitness.
Cisse, aged 22, was nursing a minor shoulder injury when he completed a transfer from Bastia to Stoke in August and is expected to be with the main group for the first time this week.
Midfielder Tomas Rigo, aged 23, will also be available for the first time, having watched Stoke’s last game from the stands shortly after completing his transfer from Banik Ostrava.
Rigo has been away with Slovakia and scored a 90th minute winner as they beat Luxembourg in a World Cup qualifier on Sunday, having helped secure a 2-0 win over Germany on Thursday.
Steven Nzonzi and Sam Gallagher shouldn’t be too far away from being involved either.
Robins has named the same starting XI in each of the last three games – wins at Sheffield Wednesday and Southampton and a defeat to West Brom – and Makysm Talovierov made the league match day squad for the first time in the latter as he returns from a hamstring injury. He had made his debut in the Carabao Cup in mid-week.
Ashley Phillips, Jamie Donley and Robert Bozenik are also still bidding for their first Championship starts after joining Stoke during the summer window.
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