Mark Robins must double down on Stoke City call after Hull City | OneFootball

The Potters' boss chose to play two strikers against the Tigers and it clearly worked

Mark Robins notched his first league win in charge of Stoke City last weekend against Hull City, and it was one formational tweak that helped his side on the way to victory, so he must continue to play that way going forward as the Potters battle against relegation this season.

Stoke have endured a turbulent campaign up to this point, with Robins the third different boss to take the helm at the bet365 Stadium following Steven Schumacher and Narcis Pelach's respective sackings.

Spanish head-coach Pelach oversaw a nine-game winless run that meant he was relieved of his duties in December, and while interim boss Ryan Shawcross led his side to one win and one draw in his short time in charge, Robins was well aware of the task at hand when he took the job last month.

The Potters have not had an instant upturn in fortunes under his guidance. They have been much more solid in defence and have had more control over games, but their attacking play has suffered as a result, and up until Saturday's game at the MKM Stadium, they had scored just two goals in Robins' first four league games as boss.

The 55-year-old, however, had a trick up his sleeve that he had not been able to deploy until against Hull, as Ipswich Town loanee Ali Al-Hamadi came into the side for his debut, and Robins was able to play two competent strikers alongside each other for the first time.

Stoke ended up walking away with a 2-1 win, thanks in part to Al-Hamadi's opener and his link-up with Nathan Lowe, and so the Potters boss has to stick with that successful gameplan in the weeks to come as they seek more wins to move away from the bottom three.

Stoke City's two-pronged attack caused Hull City problems all afternoon

Stoke's attack has been shaken up over the last month of the January transfer window, with Tom Cannon heading back to Leicester City to be sold on, young striker Lowe being recalled by the Potters from his impressive loan with Walsall, Al-Hamadi coming in until the end of the season from Ipswich, and Niall Ennis also leaving for Blackpool.

As a result of the uncertainty around who would be playing where after the window had closed, and a lack of options as the club waited for deals to happen, Robins had been unable to settle on a main, lone striker in his first few games, with Cannon starting against Plymouth Argyle and Sunderland, Lowe starting against West Brom and Oxford United, and Ennis surprisingly handed a starting berth away to Portsmouth.

That meant that a trip to East Yorkshire was not only a huge chance to grab three points from a relegation rival, but also to debut a new-look Potters front-line, with Al-Hamadi and Lowe both set-up to play alongside each other in a front two, and Stoke in a 4-4-2 formation that, at times, became a 3-4-1-2 when out-of-possession.

Stoke got off to a poor start, as new Tigers signing Eliot Matazo scored the opener inside six minutes, but after a period of sustained pressure from the hosts, Al-Hamadi took his first real chance with aplomb as he popped up at the back post to fire home and level the game just before half-time.

The Potters were then the better team in the second period as they grew into the game, and Lowe and Al-Hamadi were linking up well, with the former acting as a great foil to allow the Iraqi international to dribble with the ball and get consistent sights of goal.

City's debutant striker was then taken off with cramp on the hour mark, but Lowe remained on the pitch and soon played a key role in Stoke's winner. The 19-year-old leapt to nod a header on target from a free-kick, which saw Hull keeper Ivor Pandur forced to tip the ball over the crossbar for a Potters corner.

Bae Jun-ho's weak set-piece was met with jeers from home supporters, but Stoke quickly worked the ball back into the box for Lewis Koumas to then assist Andrew Moran's well-taken 74th minute winner.

Robins' side saw the game out to take home a vital three points, and you can't help but feel that the score may have been different if he had lined his side up with a lone striker once again. Al-Hamadi and Lowe playing together not only created a good link-up between two key players, but also gave the Potters much more incentive to attack a poor Hull defence.

Ali Al-Hamadi enjoyed his Stoke City debut alongside Nathan Lowe

Stoke's win against Hull was only the second time in 16 league outings that they had scored twice in one game, so while boss Robins will be unable to call upon cup-tied Al-Hamadi or Lowe against Cardiff City this weekend in the FA Cup, he must keep playing them together in league games for the foreseeable future.

For Ipswich loanee Al-Hamadi, his outing against the Tigers represented his first start in a league game since last April, and he spoke of his joy at getting up-and-running for the Potters in front of goal after the game, while he also praised his teenage strike partner, in a potential hint to Robins to keep them in attack together in games to come.

"It's been an amazing week of training, the lads have helped me settle in really well, the gaffer and the staff, and it's been nothing but positivity around the training ground preparing for the game. It was a perfect day really, the away end was bouncing and I'm just happy to be back on the pitch doing what I love doing," he told the club's media channels.

"A cross dropped in the box and it was just not thinking too much, trying to be in the right positions. I wanted to go out and enjoy it, play my game and not think too much about finishes or anything, which come naturally.

"Some might call it luck but I think you create your own luck in the box, especially when it's hard to make chances at any level in the Championship or Premier League.

"It's difficult to win football games and it takes a lot of effort behind the scenes, a lot of effort on the pitch, a lot of effort from the fans to push us through at the end, a lot of effort from the subs and Nathan Lowe playing up front with me shared the workload and ran his absolute socks off.

"It takes a lot from everyone and that's what it's going to take from now until the end of the season - maximum effort in every aspect."

Al-Hamadi is clearly relishing the opportunity to start regular games in the second-tier from now until the end of the season, and if Robins is to change and play with one striker going forward, then it will more than likely be him picked to start over Lowe.

However, simply based off the hour of football that the pair produced at the MKM Stadium on Saturday, it would be a shame to see either dropped as they are clearly very suited to each other in attack, and Stoke need to start scoring goals to improve on their shoddy scoring record and move away from the Championship drop zone.