Robins glad to be back after 'strange' international break

Stoke City boss Mark Robins claps supportersStoke City boss Mark Robins has said the international break has been "strange" with players coming back later into the week.

Stoke had 14 players called up for international duty which has made planning and preparation for Saturday's game against Birmingham City (15:00 BST) additionally challenging.

Robins' side have started the season with three wins from their opening four games, their only defeat coming in the most recent fixture against West Bromwich Albion.

"There's been a mixture of rest and recovery and running repairs and training, I gave them a few days off at the start and a few days off at the end and worked in the middle which generally…