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Charlie Adam has been pouring his heart out again over Stoke City - claiming there is a disease at the club which is now threatening them with League One football.

Adam, who left Stoke on a free in the summer and subsequently joined Reading, was speaking on Alan Brazil's talkSPORT show in the wake of last night's 2-0 defeat at home to West Bromwich Albion.

“It needs somebody to go in there to shake it up, tell a few home truths to people," said the veteran Scot. "If they accept it they will go on a journey, if they don’t they’ll sink.

“It’s the mindset of players. It’s different from playing against Liverpool and Man City when you’re against Barnsley, West Brom and Millwall. They’re not Premier League players any more, that’s gone.

“There’s a disease that seems to set in and that’s what’s happening at the moment. There’s an issue at the club.

“That’s me as a former player being brutally honest. It’s not good and it’s hard to see.”

Adam, a Stoke player between 20112 and 2019, continued: “I watched them last night and they were all over the place, it’s a worry.

“They’re in a position where confidence is shot, it’s as low as it’s ever been, and if they go any lower they’re going into League One and there’s no way they should be anywhere near that with the players they have there.

“But it’s easy to talk about on paper, it’s what you do on the pitch that matters and whether you have the hunger and desire to get out.

“For me, it comes down to the players. They have brought in Championship players who have been a disappointment. They’ve come with a decent reputation but they haven’t performed to the level they should have.”

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