Pennant claims home fans are crucial to success

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Stoke City’s on-loan winger Jermaine Pennant is dreaming of remaining at the Britannia Stadium and helping the club make the home ground a fortress in the Premier League.

The former Liverpool player is currently on a short-term loan from Spanish club Real Zaragoza until January, but he has impressed at the club as they have recovered from a poor start to sit in the Premier League top ten and the Premier League betting predictions indicate the club can push on.

Pennant has played a vital role in helping Stoke make the Britannia Stadium a tough place for teams to come to his season – with the club winning their last three home games on the trot. Anyone looking to bet on Premier League matches should remember this.

He told the Sentinel he would be “more than happy” to remain at Stoke if the two clubs can come to an agreement about extending the loan deal, and it has been the atmosphere generated by the Stoke fans that has impressed him most during his short time at the club.

Those passionate fans are vital in helping inspire the players at home and making sure they take all three points from tough Britannia Stadium clashes.

“Our home games were always going to be the strongest part of our season,” Pennant said.

“The fans make a massive difference and the big teams seem to struggle when they come here.

Dean Whitehead recently scored his first goal for Stoke City, and manager Tony Pulis has called on the midfielder to find the back of the net more over the rest of the season.

Stoke are a club that need all their midfielders and attackers to chip in with goals if they are to finish in the Premier League top ten, and it is starting to look like Pulis has assembled a strong unit at the club that could have them looking up rather than down.

Jermaine Pennant returns to the Premier League

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Former Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant has returned to the Premier League after a turbulent season in Spain with Real Zaragoza. While most of the attention has been on Stoke’s other new signing, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Tony Pullis will be equally delighted to have Pennant on board. The former Arsenal youngster will spend this season on loan at Stoke and the club has the option to buy him next summer.

Pennant has plenty of Premier League experience during his career including spells at Arsenal, Watford, Leeds, Birmingham and Liverpool before signing for Zaragoza. His year in Spain was far from a massive success. He failed to adapt to the lifestyle in Spain and was disciplined for turning up late to training. Zaragoza spent much of last season languishing near the bottom of La Liga and Pennant’s form did nothing to help his team’s position. The best football betting advice suggests Stoke should have a better time of things and that should help boost Pennant’s confidence.

The 27-year-old was eager to return to England and Stoke boss Pullis has taken a chance on him. Although Pennant has struggled with disciplinary problems throughout his career, he is a quality winger when given a decent run in the team. His three years at Liverpool produced glimpses of real ability but never the consistency required, meaning he was never a regular under Rafa Benitez.

Pennant’s best form came under Steve Bruce at Birmingham. It was at St Andrews that Pennant managed to find a regular starting spot. If Pullis shows confidence in Pennant and the winger produces the form he is capable of then Stoke could well have picked up one of the deals of this transfer window.