Stoke City new boy relieved to get transfer done after ‘really tough’ 18 months
Daniel Iversen is relieved to dust himself off and get the chance to start playing football again as he prepares for his Stoke City[1] league debut. Iversen signed for Stoke on loan from Leicester[2] last Friday and was given a start in the FA Cup against Brighton just over 24 hours later. That was his first appearance since May last year after being left out in the cold at the King Power Stadium.
He had impressed with a season-and-a-half on loan in the Championship at Preston North End[3] from the start of 2021 until the summer of 2022 but he has only played a dozen times in the league since then and he has been champing at the bit to get out and play. "This season has been tough and last season was really too, being number two," he said. "I came in and got 12 league games. I got the cup games in between but it was tough.
This season, I've not even been in the squad really. It's been hard and it's why I wanted to come out. I'm just happy now it's been sorted and I can finally come out on loan and try to help Stoke.
"It was still really nice to get that chance in the Premier League at the end of last season. It was a tough, tough period to come into, the last 12 games of the season which were really important for us. We got relegated but when you look back it was a good experience and in tough times you can always learn something.
That's one of those periods you can take with you in your career. "Of course my ambition is to get back and play in the Premier League. I think that's the same for all players who are in the Championship and yes, it's the same for me."
Iversen is in line to be handed the gloves on Saturday at Rotherham,[6] a club who he helped win promotion from League One in 2020. Rotherham are unbeaten in their last three in the league under new boss Leam Richardson while Stoke are unbeaten in four under their new manager Steven Schumacher and six unbeaten in the league in all, although they have only won one. Both sides need points to haul themselves up the Championship table.
Iversen said: "I really loved my time there. It's a great club. There's many new faces there now.
Leicester played against Rotherham a couple of weeks ago and I think there's only two players left now from when I was there. But it's a great club and they've got a great stadium too. "Every game is a chance to get three points.
We want the three points. We have to play well, be nice and organised against them. They're a good team."
Stoke have had a conveyor belt of goalkeepers over the last five years and none yet has been able to establish himself as number one for more than a few months at a time. But there is a strong history in this position - not least Gordon Banks[7] and Peter Shilton, who both arrived from Leicester, and Thomas Sorensen,[8] who Iversen - a former Denmark youth international - would like to emulate for club and country. He said: "I've never met (Sorensen) but I've seen him play for the national team.
He did really well for Denmark and I also know how big he was here. "It wouldn't be a bad name to be compared with. Maybe we are similar in that we like to come out in the box and be a shot stopper."
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References
- ^ Stoke City (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
- ^ Leicester (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
- ^ Preston North End (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
- ^ Stoke City accounts explained and what it means for Financial Fair Play (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
- ^ Stoke City transfer window squad analysis after first two deals (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
- ^ Rotherham, (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
- ^ Gordon Banks (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
- ^ Thomas Sorensen, (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
- ^ in the comments section (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)