Robins: Friendly experience was an eye-opener for young players

MARK Robins will be looking for more as Stoke City head into the next phase of preseason.

- Peter Smith

Stoke kicked off their friendly programme with a 1-0 defeat behind closed doors against Shrewsbury Town, when Robins named a different XI in each half and was without nine senior players, including new signings and internationals whose starts have been delayed, as well as injuries.

The squad will fly out to Cadiz on Friday for a six-day training camp and have a couple more behind-closed-doors fixtures - one in Spain and one in England - before their first public outing of the summer at Crewe Alexandra later this month.

Robins has been pleased with how most players reported back for what is his first preseason as manager and understands the importance of getting the balance right in terms of pushing them hard without risking any muscle problems.