Milan Smit talks about his adventures in Europe before moving to the Championship
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Stoke forward Milan Smit speaks to Sky Sports about his commitment to the Europa League before joining the Championship club
Milan Smit is still adjusting to life in the Championship at Stoke after joining on loan from Go Ahead Eagles in January, but will be fully accustomed to playing European football by the end of 2025.
The Eredivisie team won the KNVB Cup in the 2024/25 season, thus qualifying for this season’s Europa League competition.
In his first start against Panathinaikos, Smit scored twice and also scored in the away game against Lyon.
“When I played in the Europa League with the Go Ahead Eagles, I never thought about it when I joined the club!” he told Sky Sports.
“We just told them to hope for the best and not expect too much, because it was the first time for everyone. When you win the second game, you start to think maybe something is possible. And when you beat Aston Villa and already have six points with three or four games left, you think maybe we can break through.”
“Stuttgart’s game was on another level. They were much better than us. We were close against Salzburg and we were close against Lyon. We finished with seven points and I thought we could have won more, but it was a really great experience to play against that kind of club.”
And he says the hectic schedule, with extra matches in Europe, has prepared him for life in England.
“We played in the Europa League so we knew what it was like to play so many games and we really liked it.
“You’re a soccer player to play matches, and here you can play almost three matches a week. That’s a dream for me.”
Dan Long
Dylan Lawler talks about his Cardiff dreams and rugby career
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Dylan Lawlor tells Sky Sports what it means to him to represent Cardiff City and play rugby for his school
The dark clouds of relegation can be a silver lining for some. Cardiff’s descent into League One was a huge opportunity for Dylan Lawlor.
The defender only turned 20 in January but had a breakthrough season with the Bluebirds, helping them push for promotion and earning him a place in the Wales squad.
It was a dream come true for the Welsh boy, who has been at the club since he was seven years old.
“Every time I put on the shirt, I feel a great sense of pride,” he says. “I love this club and cherish every moment. I grew up as a Cardiff fan so it means even more to me. I love every moment of playing for the club and I hope that continues.”
Rugby might have been an option for the 6-foot-2 Welshman Lawlor, especially given his Irish heritage.
“To be honest, my family are not big football fans. There’s a rugby background there and my dad is Irish,” he added.
“I played rugby at school and I really enjoyed it. I was always at the back at school. I started as a number 10 and then moved to outside center. But it clashed with football because it was on the same day. I had to choose, but football was always more fun.”
Cardiff City will be very pleased with his performance.
Ryan Ledson’s incredible goal on the halfway line
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Huddersfield’s Ryan Redson speaks to Sky Sports about his impressive feat winning Sky Bet League Goal of the Month award
Ryan Ledson doesn’t usually score much. But the shot he took against Luton at Huddersfield in January was pretty special.
Momo’s shot from just behind the halfway line gave the 10-a-side team a 1-0 victory.
“It was definitely the best goal of my career,” he said of the goal that won him the Sky Bet League’s Goal of the Month award. “It was probably the sweetest ball I’ve hit in a while, and luckily it went in.
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See all EFL half-line goals so far this season
“It came back to me. We were down to 10 men too, so it’s going to take a little bit of something special to move forward. Luckily, we hung in and got the three points and it just made us even better.”
“It was more of an instinct. In that split second, your mind takes over and you just do it. I think it’s just an instinct. It rolled back nicely and I took a few steps onto it and just went to do it.”
“It could have gone anywhere, but I forced myself to take a good hit and made a clean catch and went into the goal.
“You have to try to catch the keeper by surprise. We’re seeing quite a few of them every season now. It’s becoming more common to see them happen five or six times a year from around the halfway line, as goalkeepers now occupy higher positions and it’s always a chance to score.”
James Belshaw is living his dream in Notts County.
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James Belshaw tells Sky Sports the fairytale story of moving to Notts County at the age of 35
James Belshaw still has to pinch himself every now and then. Back in January, the 35-year-old goalkeeper completed a dream move to his boyhood club Notts County.
“It still feels surreal,” he says. “Every time I put on the badge and walk down Meadow Lane representing the football club, I think it will never get old. I’m not taking anything for granted here. As you can probably tell, I’m loving every minute of it.”
Born and raised in Nottingham, Belshaw was at County in his younger days, but then had to pick up the game, first playing at university level in America and then in both non-league and EFL.
Now he’s back where it all started.
“I don’t think stories like this happen very often in football,” he added. “It’s a club I’ve been trying to sign for a long time and we’ve had talks in the past. When it all became reality around the end of December and things started moving, it was the only club I was going to do.
“This club is very important to me and my family. My dad has a season ticket and still sits in the Kop and cheers me on. It’s really special for my family, my wife and my young daughter to see me play for this club.”
“I was part of the Center of Excellence here until I was 15. After I left I went through non-league and finally returned to the Football League when I was 30.
“It means a lot to me now to put on the goalkeeper’s shirt and represent the club and follow in the footsteps of the legends who played here before me. It’s really special to be a part of it now.”
Ryan Woods: Stoke setback was a difficult time
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Ryan Woods speaks to Sky Sports about the difficulties of his 2018 move to Stoke City
Ryan Woods has been on the rise for several years, first at Shrewsbury and then at Brentford.
He joined Stoke City in the summer of 2018. They have just been relegated from the Premier League. This was supposed to be the next big step for the midfielder, but the result was rather a derailment.
“I spoke to (then Stoke manager) Gary Rowett a number of times before the move,” Woods recalled. “He wanted to bring me in to help influence and change his playing style and improve his own reputation.
“He brought me in so the team could play more football, but he left about three months after I came here. Then a new manager came in with different ideas and I found myself more on the periphery.”
Woods, now 32 and at Oldham in League Two, recalls a difficult period.
“It was really difficult because I had never been depressed in soccer before,” he admits. “From starting at Shrewsbury when I was 17 or 18 to moving to Stoke when I was 25, it was an upward trajectory in terms of my games and my performances.
“It was tough to go there and wrap my head around not being able to play as much as I wanted to and not performing at the level that I expected from myself.
“I learned a lot from that as a person and as a player. It was very difficult and I had never experienced it before so I struggled mentally to understand what was going on.
“We had big players and big-time players in the dressing room. Gary spent a lot of money on players and we had a really strong team in this division, but we just didn’t achieve as much as we expected at the time.”
All Easter Monday EFL will be streamed live on Sky Sports+
Kick-off at 3pm unless otherwise stated…
championship
Portsmouth vs Oxford (12.30pm) Millwall vs Norwich (1pm) Blackburn vs West Brom Bristol City vs Sheffield United Derby vs Stoke Ipswich vs Birmingham Preston vs QPR Sheffield Wednesday vs Leicester Watford vs Charlton Swansea vs Middlesbrough (5.30pm) Hull vs Coventry (8pm)
league 1
AFC Wimbledon vs Luton Barnsley vs Plymouth Bolton vs Stockport Exeter vs Doncaster Leyton Orient vs Huddersfield Mansfield vs Burton Northampton vs Wigan Peterborough vs Cardiff Port Vale vs Rotherham Reading vs Lincoln Stevenage vs Blackpool Wycombe vs Bradford
league 2
Barrow vs Chesterfield Cheltenham vs Cambridge Crawley vs Grimsby Crew vs Salford Fleetwood vs Barnet Gillingham vs Accrington Harrogate vs Bristol Rovers Notts County vs Newport Oldham vs MK Dons Swindon vs Walsall Tranmere vs Colchester
