Given calls for calm despite Stoke sitting rock bottom

Stoke City find themselves bottom of the Premier League after one point from a possible nine so far but Shay Given has assured fans there is nothing to worry about.

The Potters kicked off their campaign with a 1-1 draw at Middlesbrough but since then they have endured a 4-1 home defeat to Manchester City and a 1-0 loss at Everton.

Mark Hughes’ troops could consider themselves hard done by on Saturday afternoon though as they lost to a debatable penalty, which referee Michael Oliver awarded after adjudging Phil Bardsley to have either shoved or tripped Ashley Williams at a corner.

(Photo by James Baylis – AMA/Getty Images)

And just to make things worse for Stoke, the resulting spot-kick only went in after it rebounded off the back of Given’s header after Leighton Baines’ effort was pushed on to the post.

“We’re only three games in, two of which have been away and the home game being against Manchester City,” said Given, who has started every game so far this season due to injury due to Jack Butland.

“It’s been a tough start but we’ve got a couple of weeks’ break now because of the international break and we’ve got to regroup and go again.

“We’ve got a game coming up against Tottenham, which is another tough one, but there are certainly positives to take into it from the Everton game.”