Ben Kershaw joined the Potters from League Two side Rochdale in the summer of 2022 at the age of 18.

Born in 2003, the Englishman came through Dale’s youth system before arriving on Stanley Matthews Way.

Kershaw scored the winning goal on his debut for the Under-21s against Newcastle United in August 2022, hours after signing for the club.

Just a few weeks before his 19th birthday, the midfielder would be gifted a place on the first team’s bench by Alex Neil for the trip to Turf Moor to face Burnley.