Tom Edwards: A ray of light for Stoke City supporters in a difficult season

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Positives have been few and far between for Stoke City supporters so far this season.

Poor performances on the pitch have seen the team slide into the relegation zone and Mark Hughes was dismissed on Saturday evening just three hours after the team had slumped to a 2-1 defeat against Coventry City in the third round of the FA Cup.

The Potters now face the realistic possibility of dropping out of the top tier of English football for the first time in a decade and the next few months, including the next managerial appointment, will be of vital importance for the club’s long term future.

Since securing promotion to the Premier League in 2008 Stoke have not been renowned for producing and blooding promising young players from their youth development system. Tony Pulis favoured experienced, proven professionals whilst Mark Hughes had tended to focus on a mixture of foreign imports and proven British talent.

Julien Ngoy was the first academy graduate to play for the senior team in over a decade when he made a number of cameo appearances at the start of the year, but he quickly drifted back into the under-23 squad and has ultimately been unable to cement his place in the match day squad.

Therefore, the emergence of Tom Edwards as Stoke’s first-choice right-back will have come as a pleasant surprise to supporters.

The 18-year-old has started the last five matches across all competitions and has produced a string of impressive performances that defy his tender years.

In a team that has looked increasingly disjointed, fragile and unpredictable, Edwards has appeared calm, confident and composed slotting in on the right of a back-four. His performances have rightly drawn plaudits from his then-manager, the media and supporters whilst providing a spark of positivity that has been sorely lacking for much of the campaign.

Edwards is the definition of the proverbial ‘local boy come good’ having grew up in Stafford and signed for the club ten years ago. He has quickly risen through the ranks and has emerged as one of the most talented young players to be developed by the Stoke academy in over a decade.

His potential has been no secret and the defender was voted as the under-18’s Player of the Year in both of the previous two seasons whilst also playing a key role in the teams run to the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup last year.

Mark Hughes named Edwards on the bench twice last season and a more permanent role in the senior team has emerged following the departure of Phil Bardsley in the summer and the rapid decline of Glen Johnson.

The 18-year-old played a central role in Stoke’s pre-season preparations over the summer in Switzerland, France and Germany but suffered a minor set-back when he was shown a red card when he appeared in the Checkatrade Trophy tie against Rochdale.

To say that Edwards was thrown in at the deep end with his first team debut is something of an understatement.

He was named in the starting-eleven against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in October, a game that ended in a 7-2 defeat, and then made his second appearance at Wembley against Tottenham Hotspur, which culminated in a 5-1 loss. He impressed despite the results and showed glimpses of his talent and potential.

It has been over the Christmas period that Edwards has cemented a role in the starting eleven on a more permanent basis. He was named as man-of-the-match in the 3-1 victory against West Bromwich Albion before producing another stand-out performance in the trip to face Huddersfield Town three days later.

The defender retained his place in a much-changed Stoke team that were defeated at Stamford Bridge by Chelsea before starting the recent defeats against Newcastle United and Coventry City.

His performances, at a difficult time for the club, have been hugely impressive. He possesses a maturity that outweighs his tender years and, at 18 years of age, he will only get better with every game that he plays.

Edwards is robust in undertaking his defensive duties but has demonstrated that he has the technical ability and dynamism to affect the game at the opposite end of the pitch with his overlapping runs and sweeping crosses. The full-back certainly has all of the characteristic, attributes and tools to be star of the future.

In a season that had been characterised by poor performances on the pitch, discontent in the stands and the growing threat of relegation, Tom Edwards has been a bright spark that provides hope for the future.