Stoke City manager, Michael O’Neil has saluted the impact of former Nigeria’s Super Eagles skipper, Mikel Obi at the English Championship club.
Mikel joined the Potters on a free contract in the summer after severing ties with Turkish club Trabzonspor.
The midfielder has played every minutes of Stoke City’s Championship games this season.
“John’s been good and I think with every game he gets better. We knew it would take him a bit of time having not played since March. He was not going to come in and be straight up to speed,” O’Neil.
Speaking further, O’Neil said with Mikel in the team, the quality of his presence can not be measured.
“But I think he has done exceptionally well to get through 90 minutes as often as he has done and I think with each 90 minutes we see an improvement in his level of performance.
“I think you can see what he brings to the team with that physical presence and quality on the ball as well.
“Particularly against Barnsley we started to see some great play and real intricate passing from him as well.
“He does a great job for the team, John. He has a great tactical knowledge and he is a real help for the players around him as well.
“I think John is (up to speed) now. He has a style of play that sometimes makes it look like he’s off the pace but that’s not the case when you reanalyse the game.
“He’s just very economical in how he plays and more importantly he’s very efficient with his use of the ball.
“We’re delighted with what he’s brought to the team.
“When we brought him up here and spoke to him about coming to the club he was very positive and the good thing about it that he has been what he said he would be.
“He’s fitted in extremely well with the group of players we have. He was at Chelsea and won everything in the game but he has great humility and he’s a big plus for the squad,” he added.
Packaged by Lanre Olabisi
