Stoke City loan review as Daniel Iversen hints at Leicester exit, Luke Cundle makes ‘tough’ admission

Daniel Iversen, Luke McNally, Ki-Jana Hoever, Luke Cundle and Sead Haksabanovic will play potentially vital roles in Stoke City’s battle to stay in the Championship

Stoke City loanees will play a big part in deciding the club’s Championship fate over the next couple of weeks with three final games to answer all the questions over relegation or survival.

The Potters have five temporary signings on their books, with Daniel Iversen and Luke Cundle brought in by Steven Schumacher in January to join Luke McNally, Ki-Jana Hoever and Sead Haksabanovic. Iversen, Hoever and McNally have pretty much been regulars while Cundle scored what could be a vital equaliser at Sheffield Wednesday last weekend and Haksabanovic has returned to the fold over the last few weeks since the international break.

All are scheduled to return to their parent clubs next month but there will be questions in their own careers about what happens after that – and Stoke’s own status might play a part in their decisions or options too. Here is a chance to look at how the five have been getting on at the bet365 Stadium.

Iversen admits that previous loan spells in the EFL have been with the thinking that it was development to propel him nearer to parent club Leicester’s first team. But, having joined Stoke in January until the end of the season, this time it’s different.

“I’m not just here to play games,” he said. “I’m here to help the team, help the club stay in the Championship. I have been on so many loans when I’ve had to learn to take a step to playing in the Premier League with Leicester and now it’s for me to help Stoke, not for me personally. Of course there’s that as well but, for me, first and foremost it’s to save Stoke in the Championship. That’s why I’m here.

“It’s a big club, you can feel it. Nice people. There’s a new manager who came in just before I came and he has to put his own personality into the club. He has done that but it takes time. It will be a positive for next season.”

Iversen, aged 26, is under contract at Leicester until 2025 but it is clear his career lies somewhere else. Stoke will be in the market for a keeper this summer and it remains to be seen if he might be back beyond the final three crucial games of this term.

“I thought I should have gone last summer but that didn’t happen for some reason on Leicester’s side,” he said. “I was disappointed. I tried to get on loan but I got a no, I tried to get sold but got a no. So there was a little bit of frustration from my side. Now in the summer I will try again but I don’t know where yet that will be. But my focus now is just to play here and get survival.”