Mark Robins says what Stoke City found ‘difficult’ vs Sheffield Wednesday and it wasn’t fan protests

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Mark Robins has labelled one aspect of Sheffield Wednesday’s stadium as ‘no good’ after Stoke City’s win on Saturday.

The Potters continued their winning start to the season as they beat the struggling Owls 3-0 in front of a reduced Hillsborough crowd, with many fans voting with their feet and staying away.

Sheffield Wednesday fans staged a mock funeral before the clash and those that attended the game blew whistles for the opening five minutes of the clash in protest against the ongoing issues inflicted by controversial owner Dejphon Chansiri.

After doing their best to shut out the noise, Owls boss Henrik Pedersen highlighted his team had an issue with the pitch after the game. Despite the scoreline suggesting otherwise, former Premier League club Stoke also struggled with the turf, unearthing yet another issue with Hillsborough Sheffield Wednesday owner Chansiri needs to rectify after the North Stand issues.

• READ MORE – ‘Just remember’… Leeds United fans are in agreement about Sheffield Wednesday plight ahead of cup clash

Stoke struggled with ‘sticky grass’ at Hillsborough

After Million Manhoef and Divin Mubama fired Stoke to victory, Robins touched on how ‘difficult’ his side found playing on Wednesday’s pitch after the game.

He said: “[Focus] was important because of the events around Sheffield Wednesday at the moment and everybody feels for them and hopes they come through stronger on the other side, which they will. They will come out the other side but sooner rather than later, hopefully.

“With everything going on it was important to start as quickly as we did and thankfully Mil’s got himself into a really good position and pulled his shot to the near post as the goalkeeper was moving to his right and had no chance. It was a brilliant start for us because it settles everything in the stadium. We went on to play ok.”

Touching on the pitch, he said: “It was really sticky, the grass was really sticky and it made it difficult to run with the ball. When you’ve got players who carry the ball, it’s difficult for them in these circumstances. You have to pass and you have to pass in front. It’s no good going to feet because it’s just too slow and they’re running – and they are running really hard.”

The match wasn’t totally one-sided despite Wednesday’s troubles going into the new campaign. Barry Bannan unleashed a goal-bound overhead kick in the box, only to be denied by a diving save from Swedish Potters goalkeeper Viktor Johansson.

Robins praised Wednesday in his assessment, adding: “It was a tough game and the scoreline doesn’t necessarily reflect the game in general because they had some really good opportunities to get the ball in our box but I thought we defended well. When we didn’t defend as well as we could, Viktor was there to make some really good saves.”

Despite a far from perfect performance, Stoke kept a clean sheet and continued their strong start to the season – and the Potters have ended an undesirable 17-year run as a result.

Stoke shake off unwanted streak as Southampton fixture boosts good omen

The Potters sit top of the Championship after two wins in their first two games. They started with a 3-1 win over Derby County, before hitting three past Wednesday on Saturday.

Prior to their visit to Hillsborough, Stoke had failed to win their opening away game in any of the last 17 league campaigns, drawing seven and losing 10. They had also failed to score in each of the last five first fixtures on the road.

Stoke’s First Away League Results Since 2020

• 2020/21 – Millwall vs Stoke – 0-0
• 2021/22 – Birmingham City vs Stoke – 0-0
• 2022/23 – Millwall vs Stoke – 2-0
• 2023/24 – Ipswich vs Stoke – 2-0
• 2024/25 – Watford vs Stoke – 3-0

The Staffordshire outfit last won their first away league game in a season back in 2007/08 in the Championship, a 1-0 win against Cardiff – the same year they won automatic promotion to the Premier League.

If that wasn’t a good enough omen, Stoke face Southampton away for their third game of the league campaign; the same third fixture they played in during that promotion-winning campaign. So if Robins’ side lose that game 3-2 as they did 18 years ago, it might not be the worst thing. However, Saints boss Will Still thinks Southampton can ‘improve’ after their draw with Ipswich.