Stoke will grind out another away point

Well, it's been a mixed weekend for the Potters and football fans alike. Stoke beat Blackburn 3-0 in a victory that continues our unbeaten run of 2010, steadies the ship and plots our course to Premier League survival.

It's just a shame that it was marred by a tragic incident involving the Blackburn supporters. I'm sure that everyone will join me in offering sincere condolences to the family of the deceased and wish them well.

Stoke played incredibly on Saturday despite the understandably blasé analysis on MOTD. We covered every area on the pitch with the width provided from Etherington and Lawrence and the battling mentality of Delap and Whitehead.

It's left many Stokies wondering why these kinds of tactics aren't used when we travel to the likes of Sunderland as we did at the beginning of last week. Diao was put in the midfield with Whelan, squeezing Whitehead onto the right thus creating a compact midfield with the robustness of Hadrian's Wall.

Many fans have been left scratching their heads in bemusement at why we don't try to go out and turn over these teams with the kind of football Stoke use at home. I think that Pulis is still in his infancy as a Premier League manager and sensible enough not to overstretch himself or his team.

The aim is to stay in this division and if that means squeezing out a point away from home then so be it. It's better than nowt and I think that Wigan v Stoke is sure to finish 0-0 with great odds of [9.6].

I've once again failed to capitalise on several multiples from both here and abroad leaving me still at the bottom of the betting league and relied on Stoke to keep me from a stalemate. But this is a new week with the Potters in form and a top-ten finish still on the cards.

Any Stoke fans want to talk to Toby about the team's set-up on the road? You can get in touch on Twitter @FrontRoomToby.

Published: 8 Feb 2010 - Tags: Blackburn Rovers, Matthew Etherington, Sunderland, Tony Pulis