Stoke City injury may offer 2023 arrival chance to convince Narcis Pelach on new deal | OneFootball

Michael Rose needs to force his way into the Potters' starting eleven before his contract runs out at the end of the season

Stoke City have numerous first-team players out of contract at the end of this season, and one in particular needs to take his chance in the starting eleven to prove himself to head coach Narcis Pelach and earn a new deal in the coming months.

The Potters' primary focus in terms of their players looks to have shifted in recent years, and there is a real onus on lowering the average age of their squad to try and develop youngsters to possibly sell them on for large transfer fees.

With that in mind, the club have stopped handing sizeable contracts to older arrivals in the years gone by, and so have numerous players coming to the end of their deals next summer, such as Enda Stevens, Lynden Gooch and Jack Bonham.

Scottish centre-back Michael Rose also sees his contract come to an end at the end of the season, and he needs to prove his worth to boss Pelach throughout the rest of the campaign, amid a tough start to his season due to injury and illness, to be offered fresh terms by the club and retain his place in the squad for next year.

Michael Rose needs to convince Pelach that he is a worthy starter

Rose joined Stoke last summer, putting pen to paper on a two-year deal on a free transfer from Coventry City after four years with the Sky Blues.

The 28-year-old was a near ever-present in his debut season at the bet365 Stadium as he made 41 appearances in all competitions under Steven Schumacher, with his first goal for the club coming as he opened the scoring in a 2-0 win at Middlesbrough in October.

He spent time out of the side as the Potters won each of their last three games of the season to avoid relegation, but looked set to keep his place in the starting eleven for this term, then suffered an ankle injury in pre-season which meant he missed the start of the new campaign.

Rose did not feature under Schumacher again before he was sacked, with his first appearance of this season in September in the EFL Cup against Fleetwood Town as Ryan Shawcross took charge on an interim basis then followed by a substitute appearance against Hull City just days after Pelach had taken over.

His four league starts so far this term came consecutively as Stoke went unbeaten against Portsmouth, Swansea City, Norwich City and Bristol City, but he was relegated to the bench for the late October trip to Sheffield United, then picked up an illness which meant he missed the game against Derby County completely.

Rose did not come back into the starting eleven in games against Blackburn Rovers and Millwall, due to Spurs loanee Ashley Phillips' stellar form, but he may be handed a much-needed reprieve for the upcoming trip to QPR.

Rose could come into the team this weekend

The 28-year-old needs to play regular games in the upcoming busy winter schedule to earn himself a new deal at the bet365 Stadium, and Phillips' injury picked up on international duty could give him the opportunity to come back into the starting fold alongside Ben Gibson at Loftus Road.

Phillips has been a standout in recent weeks at the heart of Pelach's defence next to the experienced Gibson, but he pulled out of England under-20 internationals recently, and limped out of the Millwall game prior to that after just 54 minutes, holding his shoulder.

Rose should certainly see this as an opportunity to get himself back into the starting eleven, and he needs to stay there for the long term if he is going to be kept on past next July.

That will be a tough ask with the likes of Phillips and long-serving centre-back Ben Wilmot providing strong competition for centre-back places, and the Potters could also conceivably look to bolster their defensive reinforcements in the January window.

Rose has been a reliable performer over the last 15 months for Stoke when called upon, and at 28, is certainly not too old for the club to not consider a contract extension.

For that to happen though, he needs to show boss Pelach that he can play to a high level every week, and if he is given the opportunity to start in West London this weekend, he must play well enough to keep his place in the team, and in doing so, earn a new deal in the months to come.