Stoke City boss Alex Neil has urged his side to make a fast start to the Championship campaign ahead of a 'testing' schedule in October. The Potters will face relegated trio Leicester City, Leeds United and Southampton along with Middlesbrough and Sunderland in the space of 26 days.
The Whites will begin life following their three-year stay in the Premier League with a televised home encounter with Cardiff City. However, the search for Sam Allardyce's successor in the hotseat remains ongoing while a host of first-team stars continue to be linked with exits following relegation.
This uncertainty has not prevented Leeds from being named as one of the favourites to secure an instant return to the top-flight by the bookmakers. Only Leicester City are priced better in the current Championship promotion betting markets, with Middlesbrough, Norwich City, Southampton and Watford also tipped to be in the mix.
The new season markes the start of Neil's first full campaign at the helm, having swapped Sunderland for Stoke with just days remaining in last summer's transfer window. The City boss was asked for his verdict on the recent fixture release, and believes his team need to put points on the board ahead of a testing October including the scheduled midweek visit of Leeds on October 25.
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Neil told our sister site Stoke Live: “It looks like a start where hopefully we can get our teeth into it. It only comes good if you pick up points and get them on the board. I think we’ve got a really sort of testing month of October.
"We play the three newly-relegated teams (Leeds, Leicester and Southampton) plus Sunderland and Middlesbrough, who were in the play-offs last year, so that’s all in one month. We start with a home game which is good and we end with home game, which is good. So all in all, I’m quite content.”
