I Love Stoke City

Nathan Jones wants more goals from midfielders next season

Posted on August 16, 2019  in Stoke

Stoke City manager Nathan Jones has said that he wants more goals from midfielders next season following the club’s dismal tally of 45 goals from 46 appearances. The Potters had the third-best statistic in terms of clean sheets during the previous campaign but the lack of cutting edge in the final third cost them in the pursuit of Premier League promotion.

Speaking to reporters, Jones said that he wants more contributions from the centre of the park after struggling to do so during the backend of the previous season, he told: “We want our midfield players to score. We want to score more than we did last season. Our defensive record was magnificent last season and if we can have that defensive record, then add goals from all different areas, then we will be a much better and more fluent side. I would have liked more goals, but we’ve got four more games to sharpen them up. We want our midfield players to score and we want to be better from set plays. So all over we want to improve.”

Stoke recently played out a 1-1 draw friendly against MSV Duisburg in Germany where Sam Clucas found the net. Speaking about the game, Jones was impressed with the intent shown from the midfield players and suggested that Clucas has the technical ability to contribute at least 10 goals for the club during the forthcoming Championship campaign.

Stoke have decided against spending big on new recruits for the summer and so far, they have largely depended on the free transfer market. Still, they have landed quality players in the form of Stephan Ward and Nick Powell, and Jones will be hoping to make the best use of the current squad, which had the trend of playing out regular draws under his management last term.

Nathan Jones, Sam Clucas, Stephan Ward