“I want to see Ben Wilmot in there” – Stoke City fan pundit gives verdict on dilemma Alex Neil will face amid Harry Souttar situation | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk‘ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Stoke City’s form has stepped up since Alex Neil came in as manager at the club and he will be hoping he can lead his side up the table this season.

However, his squad is somewhat thin on the ground with injuries in the team currently including Harry Souttar who is one, if not the most important player at Stoke currently.

Despite being just 23-years-old, the centre-back has solidified his spot in the team as a regular.

However, unfortunately for the club he injured his ACL last November and has been out of action ever since.

Souttar is expected to be back later this year providing his recovery continues to go well so we asked FLW’s Stoke City fan pundit Ben Rowley who he should be starting alongside when he is back in the team: “First and foremost, Harry Souttar is an absolute shoe-in for this team, no matter how well we’re playing or otherwise. He is one of the best defenders in the league and he should be the first name on the team sheet.

“Whatever system we play, I want to see Ben Wilmot in there. Another good centre-back who’s good on the ball, a good defender on his day and I think having someone like Souttar to help him out at times would really bring out the best in him and then it depends whether we go for a back three or a back four.

“If we go for three centre-backs I’d possibly go for Connor Taylor. It would make it a really youthful back line but again, I think Taylor’s got that ability to be progressive with the ball both passing it out and dribbling it out, he’s proven to be a good defender who can hold his own.

“But then he’s not left sided so you could argue it’s someone like Morgan Fox who’ll be there instead. I guess it all depends on who performs well between now and when Harry Souttar comes back in the team.”

26 Stoke City trivia questions that will determine if you are a true fan or not

1 of 26

When did Stoke move to the bet365 Stadium?

2001 1995 1993 1997

The Verdict:

As Ben says, Souttar is a name that has to be straight on the line-up sheet when he is back fit as he has proven his value to the Stoke City side and will only continue to progress when he is playing regular football.

Ben Wilmot has had a strong start to the season so far scoring two goals from defence in ten appearances so you can see why he would be a shout to be in there.

Morgan Fox does bring the experience to the defence more than Connor Taylor would. However, Taylor has started the season in fairly solid form and as long as the players are performing then experience matters less.

As Ben says though, there is a while until Souttar will be back still so between now and then it’s up to the other defensive players in the side to show why they deserve a spot in the team.