Odemwingie ready to lift Stoke

A 3 – 0 thrashing at the hands of Leicester City was not the ideal return to first-team football for Stoke City’s Peter Odemwingie, but the Nigerian says he is fit and ready to go heading into the second half of the campaign. The former West Brom striker has endured an injury hit campaign thus far, while his return to the first-team has been blocked by the performances of the likes of Bojan Krkic and Marko Arnautovic.

His substitute appearance against Leicester was his first minutes in the Premier League since October and while he understands that Mark Hughes is not short of attacking options, he has pledged to be ready for whenever he is needed. “I’m happy to be back involved. Players are not happy when they’re not playing, but I’ve been training at my best to be ready,” he told reporters. “You need more games to be back to your best so hopefully I will keep being part of the team and get that game time.