Stoke City ought to be concerned by QPR, Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield: View | OneFootball

Stoke City have dropped into the Championship relegation zone following consecutive defeats to Coventry City and Cardiff City, which are part of the abysmal run of form the Potters are currently on with just one win and six defeats in seven games.

The Potters will be concerned that their bad spell of form has coincided with an upturn in fortunes from Sheffield Wednesday and QPR, who have both won two games on the bounce, while the R's have also leap-frogged the Potters by climbing out of the dreaded bottom three spots for the first time since September.

Meanwhile, Huddersfield Town made a perfect start to life under new manager Andre Breitenreiter, as they defeated Watford 2-1 at Vicarage Road courtesy of a Danny Ward brace.

A surprising result at St Mary's on Saturday as Millwall defeated Southampton 2-1, which was the Lions' first win since New Year's Day, did not do the Potters any favours either.

The Potters look destined for relegation unless they turn things around

Both the Owls and the R's have enjoyed some good spells of form under Danny Rohl and Marti Cifuentes respectively, which has helped bolster their survival hopes.

The appointment of Steven Schumacher on 19th December has not had the same effect for the Potters, as he has won just three games since arriving at the club.

The Lions and the Terriers enjoyed their new manager bounce on Saturday, while the R's and Wednesday are both on form, which should have the Potters feeling very worried about their survival prospects.

All three of the Terriers and the R's have won three of their last five games, while the Potters have won just one match in the same time period.

These positive results for the Potters' relegation rivals will be concerning for the Staffordshire outfit, while Schumacher's men face some tough fixtures in March as they face title hopefuls Leeds, before back-to-back fixtures against play-off chasers Preston, Norwich and Hull.

Potters fans may look at recent managerial appointments with envy

Both the Lions and the Terriers reaped the benefits of their new managers on Saturday as they picked up victories, while the Owls and the R's continue to enjoy wins under Rohl and Cifuentes respectively.

The Potters fanbase will be irritated that Schumacher has failed to have a similar sort of impact at their club, and some may wish to see their side take a gamble and make another managerial switch this season in an effort to avoid relegation.

The Lions are now on their third manager of the season, and already look to have better survival prospects than they had under Joe Edwards, so perhaps the Potters should consider Schumacher's position as the club's situation worsens.

Realistically, the Potters are unlikely to pick up too many points in March given their tough fixtures, as they are all against sides with genuine play-off or promotion prospects, except for the clash with mid-table Middlesbrough on Saturday 2nd March.

If Schumacher's men carry their bad form with them into the spring, and relegation rivals continue to pick up positive results, then it is difficult to envisage the Potters managing to avoid the drop to League One.

So perhaps now is the time for the club to seriously consider Schumacher's position while fellow relegation strugglers are enjoying their new manager bounce.