Tom Cannon is ready to make his Stoke City debut after showing Steven Schumacher his ability and hunger as he has joined in training.
Cannon is available for the first time for Saturday’s trip to Oxford United (12.30pm) after signing on loan from Leicester for the season. The 21-year-old striker had waiting all summer for the green light to head out and play and is champing at the bit to get going.
Schumacher said: “He’s ready. He hasn’t played loads of minutes. His last minutes were when he was on tour in Germany but he’s looked really sharp, super sharp. When he’s got opportunities in the training sessions whether we’ve played 11 v 11s or even small-sided games he’s shown the ability he’s got in front of goal. When he hits it, it stays hit.
“Hopefully he can get off to a good start and build his confidence. Obviously it’ll take time to get up to full match fitness and full speed, we understand that and we won’t be putting too much pressure on him to play 90 minutes in every single game. But he knows how important he’s going to be if we’re going to be successful this season.”
Cannon’s thirst to make an impact was a driving factor in Stoke’s pursuit over the last couple of months, as well as his pace and finishing ability.
Schumacher said: “That was one of the things I said in the interview when I got this job to John Coates. We have to get players who are hungry, who have got a point to prove, who can play with some energy and some enthusiasm and want to get to the top, not who have been at the top. That’s what I would love to recruit and that’s what I feel that we’ve done.
“Tom has come out of Everton, gone to Leicester, played a part in winning promotion there, knew his path was going to be blocked to play in the Premier League this season but his aspirations are still to play at the very top. Hopefully he can do well for us and who knows.”
Fellow deadline day signing Tatsuki Seko is also available for the first time after securing his visa last week while Jordan Thompson, Michael Rose and Enda Stevens are fit again after injury. Andrew Moran sat out of training on Thursday but is hoping he will be fine to be involved.
Eight players have been missing on international duty over the last fortnight but everything has settled down after the churn of the transfer window and Schumacher has enjoyed getting to work with his coaching team.
He said: “I think since the start of pre-season you’ve always got one eye on where you can get better, what areas you can strengthen, which players you feel might not play a part and who might need to move on but once the games start it’s where your full focus turns to.
“When you get through to the end of August and the transfer window is closing it’s almost a bit of a relief because you know this is what you’re working with and this is what the coaching team now have to get our heads around and figure out the best way of how we’re going to play and go about things to get the results we need to get.
“It’s part and parcel of football having to deal with the unknown and having to deal with international breaks in October and November and how we manage those situations as best as you possibly can but not take your eye off what is really important and that’s trying to win at the weekend or in mid-week. That’s what we’ll try to do.”
