Mark Robins makes very clear Ipswich Town promotion claim | OneFootball

Mark Robins has discussed the promotion battle after Stoke City's 1-0 loss to Ipswich Town

Stoke City manager Mark Robins has claimed that finishing ahead of Ipswich Town will earn you promotion this season after the Potters lost 1-0 at Portman Road on Wednesday night.

Jaden Philogene’s impressive second-minute strike proved the difference between the two teams, with the Staffordshire outfit suffering a third loss in a row and a fifth in six matches.

Robins’ side have now fallen out of the Championship's play-off places after making a promising start to the season prior to their current downturn in form.

Defeats to Sheffield United and Hull City, along with this latest loss to the Tractor Boys, has led to Kieran McKenna’s side overtaking Stoke in the table.

There are now four points separating the two clubs, who are both vying for promotion to the Premier League.

Stoke City manager Mark Robins issues Ipswich Town promotion claim

Robins believes that there are a lot of similarities between Stoke and Ipswich and the way they play, and that anyone that manages to finish ahead of the Suffolk outfit will be promoted to the Premier League this year.

The 55-year-old praised his team’s performance despite the loss, particularly for their reaction to going a goal behind so early, claiming there wasn’t much to separate the two teams.

“They are a really good team, and we say before the game, whoever finishes above Ipswich will get promoted,” Robins said, via Stoke’s official X account.

“So, they’re a really good team, they’re really well coached, there’s a lot of similarities between what they do and what we do.

“The problem for us tonight was Philogene scored a worldie from that position where it’s a really decent bit of play.

“We get a press wrong, they get into a good position, he gets set, he puts it in the top corner.

“That’s the difference after two minutes.

“We didn’t fold like we did like a pack of cards on Saturday, that was a good thing.”

Stoke have fallen to eighth in the table following the 1-0 loss at Portman Road on Wednesday night, leaving them one point outside the play-off places after 20 games played.

Robins is closing in on celebrating his first year anniversary at the club, having joined on New Year's Day 2025.

The Potters finished 18th in the table in the previous campaign after a disastrous first half of the term, in which two different managers - Steven Schumacher and Narcis Pelach - were sacked prior to Robins’ arrival.

Ipswich Town will be in the automatic promotion mix this season - they're too good not to be

Ipswich had a rocky start to the campaign under Kieran McKenna, whose new-look side had a few teething issues, but are now showing why the likes of Robins are making such claims about their promotion hopes.

The Tractor Boys have come down from the Premier League and will have their sights set on going straight back up to the top flight, and given the money they re-invested after the sales of players such as Liam Delap and Omari Hutchinson, they should've probably been doing better a lot earlier.

Philogene’s goal shows the class that the Suffolk outfit possess, and why finishing ahead of them will be key to earning automatic promotion.

Stoke need to reset after this defeat, take the positives from the performance and go again at the weekend, as they need to end this losing run quickly to avoid falling out of top two contention.