Stoke City’s Peter Crouch taking advantage of playing time

Peter Crouch has scored in two straight matches for Stoke City and is taking full advantage of his opportunity in the starting 11.

At the start of the season, it appeared that Crouch would have a similar season to his previous one.

Crouch spent a lot of time on the bench, playing few minutes with a couple of starts in the cup competitions.

However, the 2016-17 season is starting to look differently for the 35-year-old. He’s started in three consecutive matches and has scored in two.

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In the 2015-16 campaign, the Englishman only started in four Premier League fixtures and failed to score in all of them. His total goal tally at the end of the season was only two, as he netted goals in the FA Cup and League Cup.

He struggled to find playing time with the club and ultimately seemed to be on his way out at some point.

Earlier this season he tweeted out a hilarious response to a tweet. It summed up his frustration with the playing time he received. He responded to a fan that said Crouch was ruining his life in FIFA 17.

A change in fortunes for Crouch at Stoke City?

So far this season, Crouch has made appearances in ten Premier League fixtures.

He has also seen playing time in two other competitions, including a match with the U-23 side. It only took him one match to better his scoring record from last year, when he netted a hat-trick against Stevenage in the League Cup in August (see below).

The goal scoring touch seems to be coming back with his two most recent goals. They aren’t spectacular in nature, but he’s been putting himself in the right place at the right time in front of the net.

His size in the box can exploit clubs when they least expect it.

His play during the Chelsea match was a perfect example, as he elevated himself perfectly to set up Bruno Martins Indi for Stoke’s opener.

This could just been a random good run of form, but if Crouch can continue to produce then it will be a welcome sight for Stoke supporters.

At the moment, there hasn’t been a consistent goal scoring striker on the squad. As it stands, one more goal will see Crouch top the Potters’ scoring charts.

This is a stat which is a bit shocking in itself; it’s taken more than 20 Premier League games for a Stoke striker to reach three goals.

He seems to be enjoying this run of form and starting position with the club. It seems like the veteran has missed it: