Pearson out to be at the peak of his powers for new season

BEN Pearson is experiencing his first full preseason some two-and-a-half years into life as a Stoke City player.

- Peter Smith

Pearson joined Stoke on loan in early 2023 with a reputation as one of the best ball-winning midfielders in the Championship, hoping to recapture the eye-catching form he had shown under then boss Alex Neil back at Preston.

But he had been on the fringes at Bournemouth for a couple of years at that point and, through the timing of his transfer and then a lengthy hamstring injury, has missed out on subsequent full summer warm-ups ready to make sure he was ready to play regularly again.

Now 30, he hopes he is putting in the groundwork under Mark Robins, below, to turn a new leaf.

"The first year I came (as a permanent signing) in a couple of weeks into preseason and missed a little bit, last year obviously I was injured, so this year is my first opportunity to get the full six or seven weeks under my belt," he told Lucas Yeomans for Radio Stoke from Stoke's training camp in Andalusia.

"Hopefully that'll benefit me moving forward.

"The stats probably show that when you miss preseason you're more likely to get injured. Taking that away this year will hopefully be beneficial this season and I can have a clean run.