A Cold Tuesday Night... How Stoke Are Pushing To Get Back To The Barclays

A Cold Tuesday Night... How Stoke Are Pushing To Get Back To The Barclays

Stoke City look set to fight for an automatic promotion place after a fast start to the season.

A three-nil victory over Charlton on Tuesday night saw the Potters climb up to second in the Championship, level on points with Middlesbrough.

Picking up 30 points from the first 17 games has City fans dreaming of Premier League football next season, a feat they have not seen since their relegation back in 2018.

Tuesday night's victory was one of intent, but featured an image that has become a regularity in Stoke City's world, a cold Tuesday night.

Can he do it on a cold Tuesday night in Stoke?

The phrase often posed by fans in regards to a specific players abilities to perform under pressure in an environment that many used to fear.

The idea stems from Stoke's years in the Premier League, where teams would travel to the BET365 stadium and often struggle to pick up a result.

Over the years, the phrase lost its way with Stoke sitting firmly in the middle of the Championship.

Potters fans will be hoping it regains its meaning with the team constantly performing and picking up results at home, losing just twice there all season.

Stoke City defeat Charlton 3-0

Mark Robins' side picked up their fifth home win of the season with an impressive performance all round.

The Potters started quickly with Sorba Thomas's cross, somehow finding the back of the net after just three minutes, a major blow for the travelling side.

Surely he didn't mean this? 😮

Stoke's Sorba Thomas somehow finds the net past Thomas Kaminski after crossing the ball from the left-hand side. pic.twitter.com/AeSnwiEZew

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) November 25, 2025

Stoke continued to dominate with Million Manhoef adding City's second of the game just two minutes later, Thomas turning provider this time round.

Just under half an hour later, Thomas wrapped up all three points for Robins' side, another cross that evaded everyone and found the back of the net.

The Welsh international could not have had any more luck on his side with two of his eight crosses ending up with him on the scoresheet.

Another cross from Sorba Thomas has gone in! 😮

Stoke lead 3-0 against Charlton after 34 minutes. pic.twitter.com/3yXy2s6RBl

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) November 25, 2025

A brace made it six goals for Thomas this season, alongside his five assists as he continues to push Stoke closer to the Premier League.

Old School Stoke Are Back

Tuesday night's win looked like an old-school Stoke City, with crosses flying into the box and inevitably finding the back of the net.

Yes, it was cold. Cold enough that the kind of mid-November wind that the City is infamous. If Stoke had a weather forecast, though, it’d have said: Freezing winds with a flurry of goals.

Fans left feeling warmer than ever knowing that when it matters, this Stoke side can deliver.

Because on a night cold enough not to feel your hands, Stoke warmed up the bet365 Stadium with football that scorched.

A Club Rediscovering It's Identity

Beyond the three points and the clean sheet, what really stood out on Tuesday night was the sense that Stoke City is slowly rediscovering who they are.

For years after relegation, the club felt like it was drifting, with different managers, different styles, different squads, none of it sticking long enough to build momentum.

But this season, something feels more grounded, more coherent.

Mark Robins hasn’t just brought results; he’s brought clarity, an identity forming a mix of hard work, intensity, and attacking courage that supporters can latch onto.

And if there’s one thing Stoke fans demand, it’s a team that reflects them: gritty, determined, and unafraid of a battle.

The noise inside the bet365 Stadium on Tuesday captured that perfectly. It wasn’t just cheering goals; it was backing a team that looks united, organised, and hungry.

For the first time in several seasons, players and supporters seem connected again.

Thomas saluting the crowd after his brace, Pearson barking instructions even at 3–0 up, and Robins urging his players on until the very end, it all fed into an atmosphere that has been missing for too long.

You can see it in the younger players too, Million Manhoef plays with the kind of fearlessness you only get when a squad believes in its direction.

The likes of Burger, Baker, and Campbell no longer look like individuals trying to do it alone, they look like pieces of a growing machine.

And maybe that’s the real story of Tuesday night, not the cold weather, not the cliché, but a club feeling alive again.

A club with purpose, a club that has decided it’s tired of waiting for better days and is starting to create them instead.

If Stoke keep building like this, no one will be laughing about cold Tuesday nights, they’ll be fearing them again.