Stoke City loses ground in Championship playoffs

Stoke City lost their second game in two weeks as they went 2-1 down against Preston North End on Monday. Last week, the club suffered an embarrassing 2-1 reverse against wooden spoon holders Derby County. They are now winless in three league games.

Second-half capitulation seals Stoke City's fate

Michael O'Neil made three changes to the team that played against Derby, including removing Tom Ince who scored in that game.

Stoke began the game on the front foot, creating excellent chances in the opposition half. Steven Fletcher missed a half-chance as his angling shot lacked the power to give Stoke City the lead.

Potters talisman Tyrese Campbell was also wasteful with several efforts as Stoke again struggled for potency in the final third.

It was all square at the interval.

Stoke, however, came hurling back into the game in the second half, taking the lead less than a minute after the re-start. Ben Wilmot struck a thunderbolt to send the Potters' fans into a frenzy.

However, Stoke could barely muster another chance in the second half.

Ryan Lowe's team capitalized on Stoke's ineptitude up front as Daniel Johnson's superb cross was sent home by Brad Potts.

With thirty minutes remaining, it was all square again.

However, Stoke's hesistancy to press in the opposition box only invited pressure. Going into the last ten minutes of the game, the Potters' bottled the game as they did against Derby last week.

Andrew Hughes struck a fine header in the 81st minute to send the Brittania Stadium into absolute silence.

Bottling leads becoming a new norm for Stoke City

Stoke bottled an early lead to drop all three points for the second week running. However, a closer look at their campaign suggests that this has become a trend for the Potters. Back in October, they lost a league tie against Millwall in a similar fashion. They suffered a similar fate against Cardiff City a week later when they gave up a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3.

For a club that is contesting the play-off slots, these results have pushed them out of contention. Given their goal difference, they could have climbed as high as fifth had they managed to hold onto their lead in their last two outings.

As things stand, they are eighth in the table, five points off sixth-placed Huddersfield. They will need a serious turnaround in January if they are to keep pace with the other contenders.