Mark Robins ‘delighted’ with Stoke City win vs Blackburn, but there’s one thing he doesn’t want to see from his players

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The battle at the bottom is becoming more and more tense by the day, but Stoke City claimed a massive three points against Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday night.

With wins for Luton Town and Derby County on Tuesday, Stoke City knew they needed to get a result at home to Rovers to keep some distance between themselves and the bottom three.

The Potters duly delivered, with an Ali Al-Hamadi goal after 19 minutes proving to be the deciding factor in a tense affair at the bet365 Stadium.

After the latest action from the Championship, that win leaves Stoke four points clear of Derby in the drop zone, with nine games to go.

While Mark Robins will come away the happier manager after getting the better of his opposite number, Valerien Ismael, the Stoke boss still managed to find some pointers to share with his team moving forward.

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Stoke City can still get better under Mark Robins

Reflecting on the action in his post-match interview (via the Stoke Sentinel), Robins expressed his ‘delight’ at getting the three points, but was sure to outline the standards Stoke still need to strive towards.

He said: “I am pleased with the performance, the start of the performance. I’ve just said in the dressing room that I’m nit-picking but I want more.

“I’m delighted with the three points, delighted with the clean sheet, delighted with the performances of everybody.

“It’s just when we’ve got the game by the scruff of the neck, we don’t turn down opportunities to play forward, pass forward and run forward, and don’t turn down chances to shoot. That’s what we live for, that’s what supporters come to watch.”

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
16	SwanseaSwansea	37	12	8	17	38	47	-9	44
17	PortsmouthPortsmouth	37	11	9	17	45	59	-14	42
18	Hull CityHull City	37	10	10	17	38	46	-8	40
19	Stoke CityStoke City	37	9	12	16	37	50	-13	39
20	Oxford UnitedOxford United	37	9	12	16	38	55	-17	39
21	CardiffCardiff	37	8	12	17	40	61	-21	36
22	DerbyDerby	37	9	8	20	37	49	-12	35

Robins went on to suggest that his team still has lots of room for improvement, highlighting the potential in the squad as they head into the final run-in this season.

“I’m really, really pleased with the result. We can be so much better, we’ve got so much in there,” he added.

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Stoke City are going to have to fight to the last day

Being four points clear of a resurgent Derby County team right now is not an ideal situation for Stoke to be in. But, at least for Stoke, there is hope in the fact that both Cardiff and Oxford are on a slippery slope right now.

Looking ahead, it’s clear that Stoke are going to have to push for every single point they can get in these final nine games. And their upcoming fixtures are a mixed bag, filled with some big opportunities.

That double-header on April 8 and April 12 against Luton and Cardiff will be absolutely huge, and positive results there would probably be enough to lift the Potters away from the relegation fight.

Stoke will certainly want to have enough distance between themselves and the drop zone by the time they get to the final game of the season. That away day at Pride Park has potential to be massive for at least one of the teams, depending on how the next eight games go.

Robins wants to make big changes at Stoke in the summer. One thing’s for sure, he will not want to be preparing for life in League One, but the Potters should have enough about them to survive this year.