Early Stoke City team news ahead of Oxford ft Andrew Moran update | OneFootball

FLW outlines the Potters' team news prior to their trip to the Kassam Stadium

Stoke City take on Oxford United on Saturday afternoon as they look to build on their decent start to the new campaign.

Steven Schumacher's side have looked sharp so far this season after a decent end to last term, but need to keep their form up after two weeks off due to the international break.

The Potters have begun the new season with wins over Coventry, Carlisle United, Middlesbrough and Plymouth Argyle, while they fell to defeat against Watford and West Brom, and are yet to draw a game so far.

Last time out saw Schumacher return to his old club Plymouth for the first time since his departure last December, and his team emerged victorious thanks to Million Manhoef's late strike, as he continued his fine form.

Stoke face another tough test as they travel to Oxfordshire to face Des Buckingham's men, who have made a similarly decent start to the season themselves after promotion from League One in 2023/24.

The U's are on the same points as Stoke after two wins from four league games, but sit two places above the Potters in the Championship in ninth thanks to their goal difference, and are yet to lose at the Kassam Stadium so far this season in three league and cup outings.

After so many years in different leagues, this is the first meeting between the two sides since February 2001, when a 1-1 draw was played out at Oxford's old Manor Ground in the third tier.

This Saturday 12:30 clash is certain to be an exciting one with both teams looking strong, and with that in mind, Football League World rounds up the early team news from the Stoke camp.

Early Stoke City team news ahead of Oxford United encounter

Stoke have had a respectable start to the campaign, and even more so considering Steven Schumacher's lack of depth in certain positions due to injuries to numerous senior players, which has led to the emergence of a new crop of exciting youth players such as Jaden Dixon and Sol Sidibe.

The Potters have an almost clean bill of health from the players that were on international duty with their respective nations, but Stoke on Trent Live have reported that midfielder Andrew Moran is a doubt for the trip to Oxfordshire after picking up a minor knock while playing for the Republic of Ireland under-21s, with head-coach Schumacher explaining in his pre-match press conference that "he didn’t join in" with training on Thursday, but the medical staff "think he’ll be ok."

Those aforementioned senior absences, however, are mostly coming to an end this weekend, with Michael Rose, Enda Stevens and Jordan Thompson all available to play after recovering from respective ankle and calf injuries.

Neither Rose nor Stevens have played a single minute of first-team action so far this campaign after picking up their respective injuries in pre-season, so their returns to action will be a huge boost to the Potters this weekend.

Schumacher's long-term absentees include summer signing Bosun Lawal, who has a back issue, and Ben Pearson, who underwent hamstring surgery in the summer, while fellow new man Sam Gallagher is "not far away from joining in training in the main group" after recovering from a calf injury, according to the head-coach.

The game against Oxford is also likely to see two new Stoke players, striker Tom Cannon and midfielder Tatsuki Seko, make their debuts for the club, after they were not registered with the EFL in time to feature last time out against Plymouth, in news that will excite Potters supporters.

Tom Cannon could make the difference against Oxford

Stoke's pursuit of Cannon was well-documented throughout the summer window, and so to finally have the player they wanted all along must feel like a huge relief to Schumacher and his coaches, and his potential debut is a real talking point heading into the clash at the Kassam Stadium this weekend.

He has had two weeks now to bed in to his new surroundings in the Potteries, and while he is only on loan from Leicester for the season, he will hope Stoke becomes to feel like home sooner rather than later after 12 months on the periphery of the Foxes' squad.

Cannon gives Schumacher's forward options a huge boost, and he will surely be an instant starter ahead of the likes of Emre Tezgel, who has impressed but is still inexperienced in the second-tier, and Niall Ennis, who has struggled in front of goal for the Potters since his January arrival.

Schumacher has been after a striker of Cannon's profile since his appointment last December, and has hinted at the 21-year-old being ready to make an immediate impact in red and white this weekend.

"He’s ready. He hasn’t played loads of minutes. His last minutes were when he was on tour in Germany but he’s looked really sharp, super sharp," he explained in his pre-match press conference.

"Hopefully he can get off to a good start and build his confidence. Obviously it’ll take time to get up to full match fitness and full speed, we understand that and we won’t be putting too much pressure on him to play 90 minutes in every single game.

"He knows how important he’s going to be if we’re going to be successful this season."

The 21-year-old has insisted that he is "itching to get going" in red and white, and a lot of Stoke's hopes of success this season hinge on his performances and ability to find the net, so a debut goal at Oxford would be vital to calming his nerves ahead of a long campaign.