STEVEN N’ZONZI has drawn on his own experience of a memorable Old Trafford triumph to insist that Stoke City are capable of upsetting the odds this weekend.
The deadline day signing was part of an unfancied Blackburn Rovers side which pulled off a shock 3-2 victory over Manchester United midway through last season.
Therefore, N’Zonzi will be hoping for a repeat of that major upset when he and his new City team-mates make the trip to Old Trafford for this Saturday’s game.
“It was an absolutely incredible result, and an incredible feeling when you walk off the pitch at Old Trafford having won the game,” smiled the 23-year old midfielder.
“They are without doubt one of the biggest, if not the biggest Club in the world, so to go there and be able to say that you won the game is pretty amazing, so it is a game that I will always remember.”
N’Zonzi takes enough encouragement from good performances against the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea since his arrival at the Britannia Stadium to know that City are capable of putting up an equally impressive showing at Old Trafford.
“It is one game, and people may not give us much chance on Saturday, but similarly nobody gave Blackburn a chance when we went there last season, and look what happened that day,” he said.
“We have performed well this season and picked up points from games where people may not have thought we would get anything. We are moving in the right direction and I am really enjoying being a
part of it all.”
Tony Pulis’ side have recorded five draws from their opening seven Premier League games, and whilst N’Zonzi acknowledges that he would have liked to have seen one or two of those turned into wins, he says the players should be happy with their efforts thus far.
“It’s been a tough start for us in terms of the teams we have played so far, so when people look at the results and only see one win, I don’t think it really tells the full story.
“Of those five draws, three have been against teams who will be right up there come the end of the season, so they are good points for us to have up on the board.
“Obviously, we want to get more wins, that is what football is all about, but they will come. The performances have been good and we can take a lot of positives from the start we have made.”
Supporters are reminded that tickets for the game at Old Trafford are now fully sold out.
However, stokecityfc.com is the next best place to be on matchday as we bring live minute-to-minute coverage of the encounter via our match live service, as well as a full match report, and all of the post-match reaction from Tony Pulis and the players.
Be sure to join us here online from 2pm when we will exclusively announce the team news ahead of anyone else.