Mark Robins warns Stoke City players ‘unforgiving’ situation can drag them down vs Derby County

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Stoke City travel to Derby County with destiny in their own hands, with Mark Robins looking to secure safety after arriving at the club in early January.

Mark Robins is the third permanent boss the Potters have had this term, having replaced Narcis Pelach. It was Steven Schumacher who started the campaign but the ex-Coventry City chief has largely steadied the ship, but there is one last game left to finish the job.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
14	NorwichNorwich	45	13	15	17	67	66	1	54
15	QPRQPR	45	13	14	18	52	63	-11	53
16	PortsmouthPortsmouth	45	14	11	20	57	70	-13	53
17	Oxford UnitedOxford United	45	13	13	19	46	62	-16	52
18	Stoke CityStoke City	45	12	14	19	45	62	-17	50
19	DerbyDerby	45	13	10	22	48	56	-8	49
20	PrestonPreston	45	10	19	16	46	57	-11	49
21	LutonLuton	45	13	10	22	42	64	-22	49
22	Hull CityHull City	45	12	12	21	43	53	-10	48

Survival could be achieved by both Derby and Stoke after recent results put Hull City in the mire and saw them drop into the bottom three. However, the permutations are plentiful in the relegation battle, with the landscape at the foot of the table likely to change multiple times on Saturday afternoon.

In this game of musical chairs, Stoke and Derby will both hope that they are above the dotted line when the music stops; the impact of relegation from the Championship could be seismic for either side.

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Mark Robins’ Derby County experiences serve as Stoke City reminder

John Eustace will hope to go one better than Wayne Rooney in 2022 and secure safety and could do so by relegating one of his former clubs, with whom he learnt plenty from Tony Pulis.

He will know what Robins’ side are capable of and fear the worst, despite their upturn in results under his tutelage following his February arrival. Robins bemoaned a lack of quality against Sheffield United recently but this will no doubt be a cagier and lower-margin affair against Eustace.

Robins has managed in a game against Derby this season already. The reverse fixture was won by a Narcis Pelach Stoke side 2-1, but Derby beat Robins 2-1 when he was with Coventry City and it cost him his job after he was sacked days after the game.

That was back on 7 November 2024. At the time, Robins was the longest serving manager in the Championship. He explained his frustrations at his side at their performance levels and it serves as a reminder of the kind of physical game Derby will bring to the table.

Speaking via Derbyshire Live, Robins said: “I suppose what’s frustrating for me and for everybody watching is one minute we’re at a really high level, and then a few days later, we’re miles off it.

“First half we were miles off it. We gave them a leg up. We should have won the game. We’ve got really, really talented players and they didn’t perform to the expected level.

“Against a side that works as hard as these, that work their socks off to try and stop us from playing, deny us space, and they’ve got a little bit of quality as well, they’re decent, they are a threat and they’re a decent team.

“But the intensity isn’t there. It just wasn’t there. You have to move the ball quickly. You’ve got to try and shift them really quickly. The worry is that you think they’ve cracked it after you’ve won a couple of games and then all of a sudden you get you get your backside kicked again.

“They’ve got to understand that this league is unforgiving and and we need to hit certain heights in games.”

• READ MORE: Derby County supporters are all saying the same thing about out-of-contract star after award

Stoke City’s Championship record since Mark Robins’ appointment

Stoke have had yet another up and down season, but Robins is a manager who has the potential to bring a degree of stability to the club heading into next season and beyond.

That’s if they survive on the final day of the season, where a draw could be enough for both teams but absolutely will retain Stoke’s Championship status for the seventh consecutive season.

Since relegation, they have finished 16th, 15th, 14th, 14th, 16th, and 17th. This season won’t be much different but a rebuild has to be on the cards this summer — and Robins is the absolute master at overseeing those.