Mark Robins toasts 'one of best goals I've ever seen' in Sam Gallagher tribute

Mark Robins suggested Sam Gallagher's winner was one of the best goals he had ever seen as Stoke City came from behind to beat Sheffield United.

Gallagher returned from injury to take a place on the bench and was then one in a triple substitution mid-way through the second-half which swung the match in Stoke's favour.

Kalvin Phillips had given the visitors the lead from a free-kick but Jack McGlynn equalised with a belter before Gallagher completed the turnaround with a fabulous strike. The striker, who turned 31 in the week, brought down a long pass from Ethan Galbraith with beautiful control before dispatching a superb shot past Mike Cooper.

Robins said: "Going into it, it felt like it might be a game which was a stretch too far because of the intensity of the games. We had a clear week, they played Wednesday; we had played Saturday, they'd played on Sunday. That does have an impact. They've got some injuries.

"Regardless of that, they came with a game plan to try to slow it down and they've got really good players. Sydie Peck in there is one of the midfield players in the division. No doubt. They've got plenty of quality in the team, a former England international in Kalvin Phillips. They tried to slow things down like you would. They tried to make the game not flow. Sometimes you get that. The wind played a part as well and we didn't really have any major control.

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"Then when we did get some of the ball we passed it into tight areas, our starting positions weren't great at the start of it.

"Then you go a goal behind in the second half which was unusual for us to concede that type of goal. The response, the reaction, the noise in stadium grew as we started to ask questions. We made some changes. and then the energy levels went up, the intensity went up, we managed to get a brilliant equaliser with Jack.

"Then we scored one of the best goals I've ever seen. It is one of the best goals I've ever seen. The sheer movement, the power, the venom, the brute force that he showed and the quality he showed was brilliant.

"If those two goals can't win a football match I really don't get it, I've never seen it. The stadium erupted, the noise was brilliant. The supporters played their part hugely and that connection is going to grow. It's a really place to be. In terms of what we've done in the past few games to pick the points up we have done is testament to the character of the players on the back of a really difficult start."

Gallagher has had a torrid time with injuries since joining Stoke from Blackburn in the summer of 2024. He was limited to nine league starts in his first season and four in his second.

But he didn't miss a training session through pre-season in a programme managed by Stoke's new medical department, then featured in Stoke's first seven matches of the season before pulling his side on course for a 4-0 win over Charlton. That injury was not as bad as initially feared and Robins was clearly pleased to welcome him back.

The goal was being replayed in Stoke's media room as Robins held his post-match press conference and he said: "It's testament to him and the amount of work he has to put in - I'm just watching it again, he uses his body to bring it down and that is a joke, the quality he has demonstrated there is incredible.

"The fact that he has worked how he's worked to get himself back to fitness again and to do that. It's the second time he's hit one like that this season and in pre-season he scored. He's such a good lad as well. He deserves that. As does the team because they kept going, they kept plugging away but the intensity started to come back when we needed it."

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