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Three words repeated by Stoke City boss and an experiment that worked Talking points as Stoke City started their season with a Carabao Cup win over Oldham Athletic Stoke City are through to the second round of the Carabao Cup thanks to a 2-0 win over Oldham Athletic. Here are the talking points from the opening game of the season. Captain Johansson puts on a show It wasn’t just the double save from Viktor Johansson that stood out as he helped Stoke come through some testing moments in the first half. It was the way he bounced back up after coming for a punch, which must have been a relief after his time out with a shoulder injury. It was the way he swept up on the edges of his area, the way he tried to release the wingers with a long throw or the way he was always on his toes as a presence behind the defence. He has been trusted with the captain’s armband again as an influential senior player who will be the first name on the teamsheet – and he seemed to relish the whole afternoon. Mark Robins reckons Stoke would have been about 10 points better off if he had stayed fit through the whole of last term. This might have been in the cup against a League Two team but it was a reminder that the manager wasn’t exaggerating. FOLLOW OUR FACEBOOK PAGE! Latest Stoke City news, analysis and more via the Sentinel A midfield balance If everything didn’t always come off for Ethan Galbraith on his debut, he showed what he was about with his desire to get on the ball and use it. He will change the way that Stoke play and it should get the best out of the players around him. If you move and take up good positions, he will try to find you. Svante Ingelsson has a desire to get involved in both boxes and everything in between. He gets stuck in, challenges for headers and looks like he might be horrible to play against. That long throw is begging to be attacked as well. Djibril Soumare came on for his debut too as a substitute and was keen to stop the opposition as well as keep Stoke ticking over. Everyone who watched Stoke through the last six months of last season knew that they needed a big change in midfield and it has been completely redrawn. It will be interesting to see how it all takes shape and which partnerships or trios makes the collective strongest. Bae Junho still at Stoke Perhaps it will be fairer to judge Bae Junho when he plays with a decent midfield behind him. It is clear he needs to affect matches more with goals and assists but he should benefit from having a better platform. It is interesting that at this stage of a summer when it has seemed he would be making an exit, he is still a Potter as the season kicks off. This cameo was eye catching, no matter the opposition, because he was trying to find those killer balls. Robert Bozenik might and probably should have had two goals thanks to that creativity. Million Manhoef had been trusted with the central role behind Sam Gallagher, on the back of Tomas Rigo being closest to the striker in the last couple of friendlies. It feels like a vacancy waiting to be claimed – especially while the transfer window is still open. The door is ajar for anyone who can make things happen. “Goals and assists,” said Robins, more than once, in his post-match press conference. The battle at centre-forward Sam Gallagher looks hungry and Robert Bozenik looks like he’s got a point to prove. It will be a major project for the new medical team to try to keep Gallagher fit and available. Just like with the number 10 or attacking midfield role, it will be a case of someone stepping forward and proving they can be available as much as possible and help the team score enough goals to really challenge for at least the top eight. Stoke are expected to be in the market for a striker too as they try to give themselves as much a chance as possible to make the next few months fun. Where that leaves Milan Smit, who joined during an injury crisis in January, remains to be seen. He was on the bench for the final friendly and stayed there again against Oldham. A cup experiment There was a concern that the League Cup had become a glorified final friendly of pre-season by shifting it to the opening day. In fact, it meant that Stoke and Oldham and most other teams in the first round put out full strength sides rather than the second strings that have been used at this stage of years gone by. It was also the third highest home attendance that Stoke have ever had for a League Cup first round game. This figure of 10,157 was the biggest at home in any stage or the competition since beating West Brom in the first round in 2023 (10,583). The only other first round tie with a higher attendance was in August 1997; the first game at the stadium, against Rochdale (12,768). What do you think? Click HERE to join the debate