Stoke City legend Mike Pejic is braced for a big week for Narcis Pelach and his squad with Championship fixtures against Derby County, Blackburn Rovers and Millwall

It has been a useful couple of weeks for Stoke City, their head coach and recruitment department, with four good tests of the squad.

Narcis Pelach will have a clearer mind after games against Norwich, Bristol City, Sheffield United and Southampton about where his changing room is weak, where they are ok for now and what they need to get for tomorrow. That is the calibre of opposition that we have to have in our sights at the moment and we should know now where we need to target improvements in January and the summer to get towards that.

It’s an important job for the scouts and analysts and, as they look at what might be available in the transfer market, we have been able to see a framework start to take shape over the last few weeks about what is needed for each role in a Pelach system.

In central midfield there is a player like Andrew Moran to support the front line and Wouter Burger to link with passing; and out wide you need players who need to contribute to both sides of the game – and that’s the same in a 4-4-2 or the 5-4-1 we saw in the last two fixtures. They’ve got to be able to get in one-on-one situations, provide and create – and, off the ball, they have to mark spaces, mark players, direct the play and have a clear understanding of their importance to the unit when we’re not in possession.

He wants a centre-forward who can constantly threaten behind the defence, like Tom Cannon, and a support striker like Sam Gallagher who can link play.

If one of those players is injured or suspended, there has to be someone you can turn to so that you don’t have to change system all the time. If there isn’t a player who can do the same job as Gallagher, that’s on your shopping list whether you’re looking for a younger version or an upgrade to come in and raise the bar.

It’s your job as a coach then to make sure that the team is functioning well, that you’re asking the same things match in, match out and everyone is sure about what’s being asked and what are their responsibilities.

The bottom line for this season, I feel, is to make sure that everyone knows with conviction that we’re going in the right direction, that we have a good, firm plan that we’re going to stick to and there is confidence that it will ultimately bring success.

I want to be sure that there are high standards being set inside the club in terms of what is expected in every aspect. We need to have faith that we have players who can produce no less than a 6/10 performance every week – and more who are consistently hitting 7s, 8s and 9s.

Now we have three different challenges; a Derby County side that hasn’t yet won away, a Blackburn side that hasn’t lost at home and a Millwall team who are moving up and quite solid on their travels.

So far we have seen spasms in games when Stoke can be good but there are sections when we lose control. The coach has to keep driving them on so that we get closer to a 90-minute performance. We will see the progress, or otherwise, being made from fixture to fixture but he will have the best idea about how close he is by what he sees every day on the training ground.

There is no doubt that he will need thick skin along the way. You’ve got to be prepared for aggravation as a manager. Managing is aggravation, seven days a week. That’s the job! It’s never ending and there is always something waiting around the corner waiting to hit you.

It’s why you need everybody on board and complete trust with the rest of your staff. The work you do has to be from the same hymn sheet because it’s constant and you need the same messages being reaffirmed by people backing you up.