Michael O’Neill makes Stoke City transfer admission after player setback | OneFootball

Stoke City boss Michael O’Neill has revealed he wants to bring in a right wing-back ahead of the transfer deadline after Harry Clarke suffered an injury.

The 21-year-old joined on a season-long loan from Arsenal and with Tommy Smith having been released in the summer, he is the only option in that role for the Potters.

Therefore, his absence with a shin problem for the trip to the Terriers gave O’Neill a selection headache, with youngster Tom Sparrow filling in, even though he is naturally a central midfielder.

And, speaking to Stoke-On-Trent Live, O’Neill admits it’s something they need to address in the market.

“Harry’s got a shin injury and will take a period of rest. We’re not sure how long that will be as yet but I shouldn’t imagine we’ll see him for a number of weeks.

“We have to look at that area of the pitch in terms of our options to play there. We don’t really have a natural right-back/wing-back at the club other than bringing Harry to the club so that’s something we’ll have to look at.”

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This is clearly a major worry for Stoke as they need to have a specialist in that position, as it’s not really fair to ask a youngster like Sparrow to fill in.

O’Neill would’ve known the lack of depth behind Clarke could come back to bite the club and it’s something that he wants to address.

So, the fans will be hoping to see some movement on a new wing-back quickly, with the games piling up for the rest of the month.