Stoke City have the chance to do some important business in January

Narcis Pelach has given a clear indication of a couple of attributes that will be on the checklist as he heads into his first transfer window as Stoke City head coach.

Pleach has emphasised that he wants to develop a young squad as one of his priorities for the club but it is clear he believes an extra experienced player or two will help both for the here and now and to help those younger players come along.

He has put a big focus on set pieces too and has talked about the importance of delivery as well as being aggressive in the box. Height and power will be on the scouts’ list, certainly in the long term if not for this winter.

It should help, too, to have Sam Gallagher return from injury as long as he can stay fit. A Gallagher alternative, whether short or long-term, would be no surprise considering how important Pelach sees him to the whole set-up.

And it should help a bit further back that Bosun Lawal will soon be available for the first time. He will add a physical presence in central midfield, which is where he is expected to be played although versatile, albeit with patience as he finds his feet and sharpness.

Tatsuki Seko and Andrew Moran, used at Sunderland yesterday, might be up there with the slightest Stoke central midfields. Wouter Burger, on the bench, is never going to be a powerhouse although he is obviously tasked with improving on that score.

“We are not going to go to the market and start to sign 34-year-old players all the time,” said Pelach.

“We can do it with maybe one player to help, why not? But the idea is to have young players that one day we can sell them or they can play for Stoke City for many years and get us back to where we want to be.”

He added: “I want to be big. I like the physicality in teams and I think in the Championship you need that. That’s another thing that goes a little bit against my Spanish culture. I think we need to find the right profile for Stoke City but it’s something I look after, I want presence and I want to be big because I know at set plays we can be better when we defend and when we attack. I think we can be bigger than we are.”

Ben Gibson misses league squad for first time this season

Stoke’s captain was absent through illness yesterday.

Coach Alex Morris told Radio Stoke: “He’ll be fine. We can’t be certain but we don’t anticipate it being an issue for the Luton Town game on Tuesday. Of course it’s a blow, he’s our captain and a leader. He has an influence on the players not just on the pitch for that 90 minutes but also around the changing room and training ground on a day to day basis.”

Michael Rose takes the armband

This was Rose’s first start since a 2-2 draw with Bristol City in October and he led Stoke out.

Pelach said: “Michael has behaved very professionally during this time he hasn’t been playing. I played him at the very beginning and he played in the 6-1 win against Portsmouth and he played against Norwich, doing really well against Borja Sainz. I put him out of the team because I wanted to see another centre-back. I felt in that relationship between Michael and myself I was owing him something because he played well and I put him out of the team. He has behaved very well all these days, being good with his teammates and myself and I think he represents the attitude we want in our team going forward. That’s why I gave him the armband. He represents the values of the club.”