Miserable London run continues after disappointing Millwall loss

STOKE City paid the price for conceding two poor goals as the Championship's tightest defence was breached too easily at Millwall.

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It's only the third defeat of the season but another loss in London and another against a familiar face - and a tough week continues with a trip to Portsmouth on Saturday. Here are the talking points from The Den...

Stoke's record in London over the last decade is dire. Across 41 league trips to the capital following a brilliant Bojan-inspired win at Spurs in 2014, Stoke have won one, drawn 13 and lost 27, scored 27 and let in 80.

The odd one out was at QPR in December 2021, when Mario Vrancic made one for Tyrese Campbell and scored the other himself in a 2-0 victory. Adam Davies saved a penalty that day too, the first meaningful time a Stoke keeper had done that in a league game for eight years.

But only one Stoke player has scored at Millwall in the previous 20 years. Romaine Sawyers broke the deadlock in 2021 before going on to lose 2-1. They now haven't scored in seven out of eight visits.

Still, more than 1,000 Stoke supporters signed up for a night in The Den's away end, knowing that those rare moments are made all the sweeter by the pain. We're not quite sure it evens it out.