Stoke City star names the ‘unbelievable’ individual who saved his career – it’s not Mark Robins

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Stoke City have made an incredible start to the Championship season under Mark Robins despite their disappointing loss to West Brom at the weekend.

Mark Robins was frustrated at the decision not to award his team a penalty in the game, while the manager will surely be as disappointed as the fans of the club that Viktor Johansson made a mistake for the winning goal.

The players, along with Mark Robins, will be disappointed they were unable to match a record set by the club 27 years ago, as they won their opening four matches of a league campaign.

However, with several of their players leaving the club for a week to represent their nations on international duty, their attention will move on from Stoke City, and one of these individuals has opened up about who has saved his career.

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Craig Bellamy had a serious impact on Sorba Thomas’ Wales career

Sorba Thomas has enjoyed a fine start to the Championship season with Stoke City and has earned a call-up to Wales for their World Cup qualifiers.

While there may have been an expectation that he would thank Mark Robins for his fine form, he has placed that solely down to the impact of Craig Bellamy.

As reported by Dragon Sports, Thomas said: “It’s been crazy; I’ve proven a lot of people wrong.

“The people who doubted me, I’d love to see all their faces now.

“It’s exciting when you have a manager who believes in you, who plays to your strengths, and was an ex-winger himself.

“You can learn from it as well. I watched him many times in the Premier League – and he said he saw a lot of him in me, very misunderstood.

“I feel he’s got to know me very early, not just as a footballer but as an actual person, and I feel that’s helped me trust him.

“I think my performances have gained a lot of his trust, and there is no better feeling than when you have a manager who truly believes in you.”

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Sorba Thomas on his relationship with Craig Bellamy

The winger made the move to Stoke City this summer after spending last season in France with Nantes, and it has proved to be fruitful, as he has scored twice and provided three assists in the opening four fixtures of the Championship campaign.

Thomas has credited this to Craig Bellamy inspiring him from afar, with the winger knowing good form will earn him a spot in the Wales squad.

He said: “Bellamy has brought a different side out of me. I feel like I’m even hungrier to do well and to stake my claim in the team, and for me, it’s just about improving every single day of training.

“I’d like to feel we’re quite close; I don’t know what he would say. But I’d like to feel I’m quite a similar player to when he was playing. I also have tried to score more goals than he did, but I’ve got many more to go.

“I thought I’d never play for Wales again, but what the gaffer has done for the country is unbelievable.

“He made us believe, not just us players but the whole country, that we can go and achieve things. It’s an exciting time for Welsh football.”