Shrinking the division in size from 20 teams to 18 would certainly compact things and, in theory, make it easier for teams to shuttle between bottom and top yet it wouldn't really bridge the gap in resource between the regular Champions League qualifiers and the rest. This question likely hasn't escaped Premier League executives, who market the league for its competitiveness and sense of possibility. Once upon a time, annual consolidation and a decent cup run would make a good season for clubs in this situation in the here and now, what exactly do they have to play for? Barring the least plausible of runs, there's little genuine competitive interest in Stoke's final dozen games of the season bar the fact that they might be able to derail the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal, all of whom they must still face at home. It's a state of affairs that might have been taken for what it was in previous years in this era of high-speed and snap decisions, though, such stasis risks breeding dissatisfaction. The same can be said for Watford, West Ham, Southampton, West Brom (though Tony Pulis' side, in eighth, are having a fine season) and even Burnley, although the latter have every right to feel more content with their lot. While Hughes will rejig his squad once more in the summer, it's hard to see what would bring the kind of improvement that seriously challenges the top six. In Stoke's case, signings like Xherdan Shaqiri and Giannelli Imbula were hailed as 'next-level' deals when they went through now Imbula, all £18.3 million of him, has been strongly tipped to depart. The problem now is that football's (and society's) obsession with growth is so all-consuming that standing still is dangerous. Midtable obscurity is hardly a new thing. Craig Mercer - CameraSport via Getty Images Stoke's inability to make a significant move up the Premier League isn't entirely their fault. In reality, it's clear enough that last season was an anomaly largely caused by simultaneous periods of change and uncertainty around several of the established contenders the vision of a new world order was probably illusory, and you wonder what that means now for the group of bunched-in outfits that have nowhere meaningful to go. The suggestion in early 2016 was that the extra spending power of Premier League clubs, heightened by the new television deal that kicked in this season, would narrow the margins and draw the midranking teams closer to the top. At this stage a year ago, eighth-placed Liverpool (admittedly an anomaly for them) stood three points from fifth and two from sixth, while down in 13th place, Crystal Palace could harbour faint hopes of bridging the nine-point gap to fifth. Instead, it's a swift return to the norm after a 2015-16 season that, quite apart from Leicester's success at the summit, seemed to open the door to the upwardly mobile. The overall picture shows a clutch of sides that will almost certainly swap places throughout the next two months to little effect, bar a difference in prize money that will matter little in today's arms race. If the Hammers have designs on sixth spot, and the final Europa League place, they must make up a 15-point gap if Southampton fear being sucked into the relegation dogfight, they at least have four points more than Bournemouth, directly below them, and have played a game fewer. Three points separate West Ham (currently in that ninth position) from Southampton in 13th, and the gap between those spots will shrink to two points should the Saints win their game in hand.

They are simply the repeat presence in what increasingly seems to be a 'squeezed middle' in the top flight: teams all too good to be concerned with relegation but not good or consistent enough to be troubling the European spots. Stoke are hardly alone in that limbo, either. They win a couple, lose a couple, and the world keeps on turning. After a supine performance and a 4-0 defeat, Hughes said his side was 'awestruck,' but the cause for wider concern was minimal: After all, Stoke are a midtable team. For a week at least, ninth place in the Premier League would have been the prize: It's also been Stoke's final nesting spot for three consecutive seasons. Had Stoke City made a decent enough fist of last Sunday's match at Tottenham, the spoils of war would have been familiar.

Holding limbo bar above head