It was the opportunity that Christos Tzolis had been patiently waiting for after returning to Norwich City in January. 

Since his recall from a loan spell at FC Twente upon David Wagner's request, the German has adopted a cautious approach to reintegrating the winger back into life in England. 

A spate of creative midfield injuries, coupled with Marquinhos' underperformance and the late overturning of his suspension presented Tzolis with his first City league start since a 3-0 Premier League defeat to Crystal Palace back in December 2021. 

In truth, it was probably a moment that Wagner would have wanted to arrive later down the line - but Tzolis has spent time building up his fitness and understanding of his role in the City boss' preferred set-up. 

Given Norwich opted to change tack, play a 4-4-1-1 and went more direct - that isn't a tactical recipe that will get the very best of the Greek international, who struggled to find a way into this encounter. 

City bypassed their usual midfield build-up, meaning Tzolis' role had a larger emphasis on defensive behaviour than is usually the case and was reliant on him picking up second balls or getting involved in combinations in Norwich transitions. 

Norwich doubled up in wide areas, an idea designed to prevent Stoke from executing the long, diagonal switches of play that their recent form has been built upon. In that regard, Tzolis and Dimi Giannoulis stifled that aspect successfully. 

But their overall lack of attacking productivity made this a quiet afternoon for the Greek international. It was a thankless task being a wide option in this Norwich side compared to the set-up that his attacking colleagues have benefited from in recent weeks. 

In that regard, there can be no hard and fast evaluations of Tzolis' impact. It wasn't the performance he would have hoped for, but in many ways the set-up made it difficult for that to ever become a possibility. 

Out of his 33 touches throughout the encounter, 19 arrived inside Norwich's defensive third. Eight came in the attacking third, just one in the opposition penalty area. Very few players are producing moments with that little of the ball in dangerous positions. 

For Tzolis to get into this game, Norwich needed to make a better success of their longer passes. They didn't, so it was difficult for him to get onto the ball and create opportunities, either for himself or others. 

His best moment in the encounter arrived after six minutes and was one of the few moments when he did receive a pass to his feet. He threaded a perfectly weighted pass through to Josh Sargent.

The Pink Un: Christos Tzolis in action against Stoke City. Christos Tzolis in action against Stoke City. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

The American should have converted after finding himself through on goal but a phantom touch led to the ball getting stuck under his feet. That robbed Tzolis of his first-ever league assist for the Canaries. 

Those circumstances that limited his influence should mean that he isn't judged too harshly for his outing. 

At 21, Tzolis has plenty of potential and has shown glimpses of quality since his return earlier this year - most noticeably in his goal against Birmingham. 

As the focus shifts onto what comes next, it may be that Tzolis has a more significant role to play moving forward. With Hernandez and Dowell currently out of contract come the summer and Marquinhos set to return to parent club Arsenal, he would have a leading role next season. 

Wagner has convinced him that he is the coach who can extract that quality that tempted Norwich to part with big money to bring him to Carrow Road. The German assumed responsibility for his development in a recent press conference.

The Pink Un: Christos Tzolis had little to feed upon in the game. Christos Tzolis had little to feed upon in the game. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd) 

Tzolis shouldn't be disheartened that he could not grasp his big City opportunity given how they set up and how the wide areas were used largely to counter Stoke's threat rather than unleash their own. 

It was a sacrifice of his attacking flair for the benefit of the team - perhaps Wagner will be the most grateful for his contribution. 

VERDICT: Not the performance he would have wanted on his first City start since his loan return, but a solid shift for the team. Should have had an assist after playing a beautiful pass to Sargent early on. Substituted after 69 minutes. 

RATING: Six out of ten