Stoke & Staffordshire

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  1. 'We lacked fluidity' - Robins

    Mark RobinsGetty Images

    Stoke are 13th in the Championship

    Stoke manager Mark Robins said his side lacked fluidity in attack and admitted it was a laborious performance in the 2-0 over Sheffield Wednesday.

    Goals from Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Lamine Cisse secured victory at the Bet365 Stadium.

    But Robins wasn't entirely satisfied with the manner of the result.

    "We were nowhere near fluid throughout the game," Robins told BBC Radio Stoke.

    "We were at times, but we looked laboured in movement and passing. We created good openings and should have had more chances on goal if we'd had been more awake.

    "We got the game done, a clean sheet and 54 points, more than the entirety of last season. You talk about incremental improvement, that is there for everyone to see."

    Robins added that expectation was high because Wednesday have already been relegated, and pointed out his squad has been stretched recently.

    "It was hard. You're on a hiding to nothing because people expect you to win and score a avalanche of goals. That hasn't happened.

    "They've got lots of good players. They've lost some and gained some. Sheffield Wednesday are young and they've been through the mill in the past few seasons.

    "We've had eight players to work with whilst others are injured, coming back or on international duty. Logistically it is tough; to get the game won like that was pleasing."

  2. National League football with 'HUFC' written on it being kicked by a white boot wearing a blue sock

  3. EFL match ball

  4. Stoke celebrate goal

  5. The wall of a historic mill building is being pulled down by a yellow mechanical device. There are bricks and debris falling as the wall begins to collapse.

  6. The inside of a derelict indoor market building. Damage to the ceiling is visible and greenery is growing out of the ground.

  7. Lisa has long blonde hair and is smiling at the camera in this head and shoulders image. She has a red top on.

  8. A young girl lies down on a green background with multi-coloured eggs dotted around her head. She has bunny ears on and whiskers painted on her face. She has a flowery dress on and long brown hair.

  9. The top of a ladder, with a white brick wall behind and someone standing at the top of them. The person is wearing black shoes and a blue set of trousers which can only be seen from below the knee.

  10. A red FA Cup patch being applied to a white Port Vale home shirt.

  11. From left to right: Middlesbrough boss Kim Hellberg, Ipswich forward Jack Clarke, Coventry manager Frank Lampard, Millwall winger Femi Azeez and Hull striker Oli McBurnie

  12. A man with ginger hair and wearing a suit, smiles while he stands outside. There are some trees behind him and a white and black hut to the left.

  13. Poet Steven Beattie stands by the side of the home dugout at Vale Park with the club badge showing on the side of the seat

  14. A man and a woman are standing alongside three ambulance crew members in uniform. They are standing by the side of an ambulance with West Midlands Ambulance Service livery.

  15. A two lane carriageway with a bridge in the distance and a large blue motorway sign on the left hand side and a number of cars on the road

  16. A wide photo of the M6 . On the right there are three lanes merging into two. small lorry with a flat bed is driving behind lines of traffic. A gantry overhead has blue signs reading "M6" and "M42". There is a sign for Birmingham airport on there.

  17. Poet Steven Beattie stands by the side of the home dugout at Vale Park with the club badge showing on the side of the seat

  18. A road with a double yellow line along the side of it. There is also a footpath running alongside and a grass verge along with a row of trees. There is a large truck heading towards the direction of the photographer.

  19. Boatman Drive in Etruria

  20. An elderly lady wearing a red jumper is holding a penguin. She is sitting in a pink chair with a tall back. Next to her is another woman, sitting in a similar chair which is green.

  21. Championship clubs spend more than £69m on agents fees

    Sindre Walle Egeli in an a blue Ipswich Town shirtGetty Images

    Ipswich signed Sindre Walle Egeli for a club record £17.5m in January

    Championship clubs spent just over £69.5m on agents fees over the past 12 months according to figures released by the Football Association, an increase of £6m on the previous year.

    The figures cover the period from February 2025 with Ipswich Town the top spenders, paying £11.7m having spent the first three months of the accounting period in the Premier League.

    Southampton (£8.3m) and Leicester (£5.8m), who were relegated alongside Ipswich are the second and third-highest payers on the list.

    Troubled Sheffield Wednesday were the most frugal when dealing with agents, spending £534,559.

    Wrexham come in sixth on the list with an outlay of £3.6m while current Championship leaders Coventry spent just short of £1.5m.

    Championship agents' fee spending

    • Ipswich - £11,738,920

    • Southampton - £8,381,358

    • Leicester City - £5,866,587

    • Sheffield United - £5,005,498

    • Norwich - £4,020,206

    • Wrexham - £3,660,584

    • Swansea - £3,088,645

    • Middlesbrough - £2,900,314

    • Bristol City - £2,774,990

    • Hull City - £2,450,431

    • Stoke City - £2,088,886

    • Birmingham City - £1,996,502

    • Millwall - £1,982,348

    • Preston North End - £1,831,233

    • QPR - £1,829,036

    • Watford - £1,612,833

    • Coventry - £1,497,990

    • Derby - £1,409,507

    • West Brom - £1,346,030

    • Oxford - £1,235,536

    • Charlton - £904,698

    • Portsmouth - £831,818

    • Blackburn - £676,980

    • Sheffield Wednesday - £534,559

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