Stoke City may end up profiting following Steven Schumacher snub: View

Ryan Mmaee looks set for a return to the Stoke City first team squad for this weekend’s meeting with Norwich City, after the 26-year-old was banished from training by boss Steven Schumacher.

The Moroccan international hasn’t featured for the Potters since January following poor discipline in training, something that the new City boss took a harsh stand on.

After training for the under-21s for over a month, the 26-year-old is said to be back in Schumacher’s plans for the rest of the season, and will be eager to make amends for his misdemeanours in the past.

Ryan Mmaee Stoke City disciplinary history

Schumacher aimed to set standards high upon making the move to the bet365 Stadium from Plymouth Argyle last December, and has made an example of tearaway Mmaee by dropping him from all first team activities.

The forward has missed the last eight matches for his side after misbehaving on the training pitch, and had been made to pay for his actions by his manager.

After such a promising start to the 2023-24 season, few would have predicted that Andre Vidigal would barely be getting a game for Stoke City as the campaign reaches its conclusion.

The Portuguese attacker started the season on fire for the Potters, with a brace on the opening day helping his side to a 4-1 victory over Rotherham United, before going on to find the net five times in his first six games in all competitions.

But with his last start coming against Blackburn Rovers in mid-February, the 25-year-old no longer finds himself in Steven Schumacher’s immediate plans at the Bet365 Stadium, and will be perhaps lucky to even get into the match day squad as his side battle relegation.

Andre Vidigal’s first Stoke City season has been a mixed bag

Vidigal signed for Stoke last summer from Portuguese side Maritimo, and on first viewings he looked to be worth every penny of the reported £450,000 they spent to bring him to Staffordshire.

That debut brace against the Millers would have done plenty of good in winning over the home crowd, before finding the winner in a 2-1 League Cup victory over West Bromwich Albion days later.

A match-winning effort against Watford earned his side their second win of the season, before a late consolation in a 3-1 defeat to Hull City marked the last time he found the back of the net before Christmas.

The wide man’s downturn in form coincided with a worrying run of results for the Potters, as a run of just five victories from 19 league fixtures saw them slide further and further down the Championship table, with Vidigal scoring just once in that time and his side were embroiled in a relegation battle.

Stoke find themselves 19th in the Championship table at time of writing, just three points above the Huddersfield Town in the final relegation spot, and among a cluster of seven clubs separated by just three points at the bottom of the table.

But Schumacher seems to have stumbled upon a more reliable formula in recent weeks, and it doesn’t include Vidigal – with the Portuguese player having a watching brief as City recorded victories over Queens Park Rangers, Middlesbrough and Preston North End.

January recruits Luke Cundle and Niall Ennis have been preferred in the attacking positions of late, as well as Tyrese Campbell and Bae Jun-Ho, the latter who is improving week on week as he gets more used to English football, and he netted the opener against Boro earlier this month in a 2-0 away win on Teesside.

Steven Schumacher has clear Andre Vidigal doubts

The upturn in results will leave Schumacher pondering over whether throwing his Portuguese playmaker back into the fold is the correct decision, with results on the pitch showing that they can do just fine without him.

But as the fixtures come thick and fast, squad depth will be key to picking up valuable points if they are to avoid dropping down into the third tier, so Vidigal has to be ready for action when called upon.