Stoke City’s final six home games, according to Steven Schumacher, “will be huge” as they attempt to survive in a 10-team Championship fight.
Stoke is in risk of being demoted to the third level for the first time since 1998 after dropping into the bottom three. There are some difficult games on the schedule, but if they perform well at the bet365 Stadium, they have an opportunity to control their own destiny.
Although the home stands will be fervent come kickoff against Middlesbrough, knowing exactly what is at stake, the record at headquarters has not been great over the last two years. And Schumacher hopes that ending a four-month wait for a home win a couple of weeks ago was an important milestone.
He said: “It was so important to get a win against QPR to break that run we were on. We did ok against Coventry after the QPR game and probably should have taken a point out of that game, minimum. Now we have to back it up with another good performance and a result against Middlesbrough.
“The home games are going to be huge. We’ve got some good home games where we feel we’ve got a real good chance in and we’re also aware that we’ve got some really tough away games. But any game in the Championship is winnable. If you get your attitude and mentality right, you’ve got a chance in any of them.”
Pressure has mounted on everyone at Stoke over the course of this season but Schumacher is looking forward to a chance to get back in action and an opportunity to make a big step in the battle to haul out of danger.
“It’s what you get paid for, it’s the best part of the week,” he said. “Training is important but match day is where the pressure is on and when we have to perform, not just the players but the staff, the fans, we’ve got to really do everything we can to get the victory we’re going to need.”