Stoke fade after Jones injury

It was all looking so good at 3pm on Saturday. Stoke’s £8m new signing, Kenwyne Jones looked bright and ready for action as Tony Pulis named him in the starting line-up at Molineux alongside fellow West Indian, Ricardo Fuller.

He even hit the woodwork with just five minutes on the clock after shrugging off the Wolves’ defence, but then the Potters’ were crushed by a hard tackle from Jody Cradduck on Jones that left him limping off the pitch with the likelihood of a serious ankle injury.

Heads went down on and off the pitch and Stoke lost the early initiative. The Stoke fans were down and that transmitted itself to the players on the pitch as we increasingly allowed ourselves to be driven on to the back foot and into our own penalty area by 11 Wolves scenting blood.

Two goals just over five minutes away from the break killed off any realistic prospect of a win for Stoke, but just after the break we did get a glimmer of hope after Matty Etherington’s corner was soundly headed home by Abdy Faye – surprising many by even being in the starting eleven after a distinctly underwhelming pre-season.

Hopefully Kenwyne’s injury isn’t as bad as feared. He did cheer up the Stoke faithful by reappearing in the visitors’ dug-out on crutches, minus any signs of strapping or ice, to lend some hope that the injury is not as bad as first feared.