Stoke didn't play the full first team but it was still a pretty decent side with Clucas, Chester, Powell, Ince and Batth. It was a good workout for us, quite competitive without being too intense.
Stoke looked very composed in posession and had some good movement, they also played a high press that made it difficult for us to play out from the back and through central mid and forced us to go long more than we'd probably like. Those attributes meant we looked a bit trepidatious as it was a level way above most L1 sides and our preseason so far. But as we started to aclimitise to the game we started to play a bit, get men forward and pose a threat. We ended up the better team by the end of the first half.
I think it was good Stoke tried to stop us playing our game as we will obviously face a lot of that over the season and it's encouraging that we were able to adapt and overcome the challenge their tactics posed.
I'm not sure if many of our lads really wowed (it's presesson) but no one was poor either- everyone was pretty decent to good.
Jones - couple of iffy moments but couple of good saves too. Not sure if he got his angles wrong for their goal or if the strike left him no chance.
Darikwa caught in possession for Stokes goal and wasn't able to get forward much as he normally does but was otherwise pretty decent.
Long - unspectacular but reliable / solid, probably the best game I've seen from him.
Whatmough - got caught in possession badly early on but besides that moment of madness he made a very good first impression. A cut above the defenders we had last season.
Pearce - was ok, got a couple of good balls in but exposed a couple of times defensively. Like Darikwa probably not able to get forward as much as usual.
Naylor - struggled to get on the ball due to Stokes high press but made some strong defensive contributions when Stoke started to apply some pressure and looked dangerous from set pieces.
Power - like Naylor struggled to get on the ball and dictate play due to Stokes approach but as you'd expect worked hard with lots of energy. His set piece delivery was good.
Edwards - had some good moment and was willing to run at players but was coming inside more to get involved in play rather than hugging the touchline looking to cross. Didn't get any good crosses in for Wyke.
Assgaard - some very good moments and one of our better players in the first half. He's like another Lang where you could tell early on he obviously got something about him. Would've had a goal if Stoke keeper hadn't pulled off a great save. Like Edwards was coming infield to get involved in attacks round the box rather than staying wide looking to cross.
Lang - playing as the no10 rather than on the right but still did what Lang always does, very direct running at players and shooting at every opportunity. Good goal and will be disappointed he didn't get a second. Came off at half time with ice bag on his quad but hopefully just a precaution. Need to get him tied down to a new deal asap.
Wyke - starved of any real service so did very little. But we knew that before a ball was kicked- he'll get you goals if we get him plenty of crosses into the box but unfortunately we just didn't do that on the night. He suffered from Stokes high press limiting the width and crossing opportunities for the full backs. He was up against some strong centre halves but didn't win as headers as you'd hope from long balls. He's more another Grigg type poacher than a Kieffer Moore target man - that's not necessarily a bad thing but we just need to play to that.
Keane - we were missing creativity in the first half but Keane added that when he came on. Looked classy and made a big difference and laid goal on plate for Humphrys.
Humphrys - he's built like a tank, very energetic and lively didn't really get a chance to show his ability to run with the ball or powerful shot but good to get a goal.
Blackett-Taylor - not on that long but had a couple of exciting runs that got everyone off their seats.
Scott Smith, Robinson, Eardley, Carragher, Massey, McHugh all came on and none of them really had enough time to impress but no one did much wrong either.
First half we did miss an Evans type deep sitting play maker to try and by pass Stokes high press. That's not a knock on Power or Naylor they are both good players but it's not really their game and we probably could do with that option in the squad.
We possibly also missed a little creativity in the final third. Edwards, Assgaard and Lang were working hard and posing a threat but Keane added a little extra creativity around the box.
We also lacked width as the full backs were pinned back more than we'd like and that limited the chances to give Wyke the type of balls he needed. I think the way we played and the way Stoke played suited Humphrys a lot more than Wyke and to get the best out of the latter we probably need to look at what we can do a little different tactically. So there was plenty to learn and work on but Richardson will be largely pleased with what he saw.
It is interesting that the final home game of the old era before everything went to hell was a victory against Stoke and the first home game of our clean slate / new beginning is also a win against Stoke.