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Comments Sport Peter Smith Stoke City reporter 05:00, 19 Sep 2026 Mark Robins is encouraged that Stoke City can finally resolve the goal problem which has hung over too much of their life in the Championship. Stoke only scored 51 times in the league last season but that was still more than they had managed in the previous two years. The lowest scorers in the top eight last term were Millwall with 64 – and that is still two more than Stoke have managed since returning to this level in 2018. The 2019/20 season is the only time that Stoke (62) have got more than 57. The first few weeks of this season have been the first time since 2018 that Stoke – who take on Sheffield United at home today (12.30pm) – have managed to score in nine games in a row. That has come despite the sale of Sorba Thomas, who scored or made 23 goals last season (45 per cent). Eight players have got on the scoresheet, including five new signings, and Robins said: “When you’re at a certain point you know that there’s work to be done and I said to you, I said to everybody, in the summer that we knew what we needed to do – the next thing was to go and deliver it. Article continues below Stoke City consider £297m deal with instant £81m bonus Stoke City receive warning as John Coates presented with £1.5 billion proposal FOLLOW OUR FACEBOOK PAGE!Latest Stoke City news, analysis and more via the Sentinel “Everybody has worked really hard to try to make things happen and then there are things that are thrown up that are maybe unexpected or slightly unexpected and curveballs that come in at the last minute with Sorba. You get opportunities all the time and making the best of those is really important. We need to continue to do that. “People have worked hard and continue to do that. Then things obviously need to settle down and develop but the fact is that, as I’ve said before, with better players you get better quality and also they settle more quickly. “It’s really early days yet but I’m hoping we can continue in the same vein and then build on that. We have had some really up and down performances but managed to pick up results within that, which is always a good sign. Article continues below “We can learn a lot about everybody in a short space of time and this is another game where we will learn and also hopefully be able to compete better than we have done. That is something that we are looking forward to and are excited about.” Hull’s last minute pursuit of left winger Thomas left Stoke weighing up the pros and cons of changing the balance of the squad, leading to the deadline day signing of Justin Devenny and a switch to a wing-back system. Robins said: “Again, it’s always about players and having a balance. That lends itself to what you do anyway. “Everything is an opportunity and things change and you have to play the cards you hold as well as you possibly can do. Article continues below “With the work that’s going on, that’s the exciting thing and everyone should be excited about the start of something. That’s what it is: the start of something. What that might be, we don’t know necessarily quite yet but it is exciting. “We’ve got a chance to move the club forward as quickly as we can but do that in a controlled way.” Stoke go into the Sheffield United clash having picked up 10 points out of 12 – and the manner of swaggering victories over Charlton and Watford has injected new optimism into the fanbase. Robins said: “This two-week period has been really positive but you can’t get ahead of yourself. There will be set-backs along the way. That’s football, that’s life. The thing I would say is that it’s really promising and whether you have set-backs or not, I know there is good quality there which you can work with. I can already see that, which is fantastic. Article continues below “From our point of view, we will work to make them the best they can be. We’ll give them the best training, the best guidance, the best information. We will check they understand that and you can do that because you can see it coming out. We want to keep them really focused. “You want players who want to achieve, not just come to play for a really good football club in a really comfortable environment, that’s got the quality environment that we have to work in – we’re really fortunate – but to really want to surpass that and make it better all the time. I’ve got to drive that. John Coates drives that, Jon Walters drives that. “We have to make sure that we are all aligned, all on the same page, all making sure we know how to move things and at what speed we can do that, guided by what the players are capable of doing. There is a real excitement about that. Maybe you’ll be able to tell from me and how I’m trying to articulate things, it’s a really exciting start to a season.” What do you think? Click HERE to join the debate Article continues below Get YOUR Stoke City Newsletter Get the best Stoke City news and analysis straight to your Inbox courtesy of The Sentinel! To get it, it's a quick and easy one-two: 1. HeadTHIS WAY 2. Enter your email and hit Subscribe. ENJOYED THIS STORY? Choose The Sentinel as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value. 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Curated by Taleb Kabbara · Source: www.stokesentinel.co.uk