Stoke City Season Preview: Potters primed for a top-10 tilt

Underrated: Mark Hughes and Stoke look a huge price to finish top-10 again

Lewis Jones is putting up what he calls "his best ante-post bet of this season" in his Stoke season preview. They may be unfashionable but boy are the Potters reliable...

Last season

Many people's dark horses for relegation, Stoke adhered to their position as Premier League mainstays by finishing ninth, their highest league finish since 1975.

Much of the negativity towards their chances at the beginning of that campaign stemmed from the appointment as Mark Hughes as manager, who had previously played a big part in QPR's relegation from the Premier League.

Under Hughes, Stoke have moved away from their previous forceful style of play and instead adopted more possession into their game, pressing as a team without the ball then attacking with power and pace through a variety of channels.

At home they were solid as ever, losing just three of their 19 games and winning 10. As long as they continue to make the Britannia Stadium a fortress, Stoke will continue to punch above their weight in their seventh straight season as a Premier League side.

Ins and outs

Stoke don't grab headlines, that's just common knowledge. However, slipping under the radar of public scrutiny seems to work for them year-on-year and the business they have conducted this summer has a massive amount of potential.

Premier League stalwarts Phil Bardsley and Steve Sidwell have joined from Sunderland and Fulham respectively, but it's the transfer of Bojan Krkic from Barcelona that has really got everyone in the Potteries talking.

This lad was once mentioned in the same breath as Lionel Messi at Barcelona and was the youngest ever goalscorer for Barca when he scored against Villareal CF in 2007.

He didn't hit anywhere near the heights expected of him at the Nou Camp and also flattered to deceive on-loan at Roma, AC Milan and Ajax.

However, this could be a case of a player needing to be the big fish in a relatively small pond. He may just need to feel loved again and if Hughes can work the oracle, he may have an outstanding talent on his hands; after all this is a player that is the all-time leading scoring in the Barcelona youth team with more than 600 goals.

Bojan has netted three goals in four pre-season games for his new club - one of those a fantastic long range effort against Real Betis - and is already a bit of a cult hero to the Staffordshire locals.

Hughes has also brought in former Manchester United youngster Mame Biram Diouf and defender Dionatan Teixeira.

The manager

Hughes is going the right way to rebuilding his reputation as a proven Premier League manager following his disastrous spell at QPR.

What many people had overlooked at QPR was the clever shifting of blame Tony Fernandes put at Hughes' door for their embarrassing start to that campaign.

Hughes was given a remit by Fernandes to sign big-name players, which is not the situation Hughes flourishes in. Yes, he was partly responsible but the whole ethos of the club was perhaps more of the reason.

Stoke is a far better fit for the Welshman and with a little bit of luck here and there, he could keep on improving them season-on-season.

Expectations

Aim high would be my advice for everyone associated with Stoke. Dream a little. The owners are far too responsible to get any of the fans' expectations too high though and a mid-table finish with no relegation fears will do the shrewd spending board just fine.

Best Bet

I was staggered to find Stoke trading at odds-against to finish in the top-10. Once again their Premier League PR as being unfashionable is affecting their price. But it's time to act.

The 2.35/4 for them to bag a top-10 spot is absolutely massive and is my best bet in all of the pre-season ante-post markets.

Teams supposedly pitching at the same level as Stoke, like Southampton and Newcastle both have their problems while it's hard to see any of the bottom-10 from last year or the newly promoted sides having enough in the locker to nick points off the top eight. Stoke do and will finish higher than mid-table.