Less than a week after news broke in England that former US national team hopeful Brek Shea could be on his way out of Stoke City, the former MLS star says he’s ready to go if he doesn’t get more playing time.
In a report printed in the Stoke Sentinel on Wednesday, Shea stressed what most US fans already know: If he wants to play in Brazil next summer, he needs to find minutes somewhere in England, and find them fast.
"I've got to get playing, whether here or on loan somewhere,” Shea said. “It's up to the gaffer and hopefully he tells me something soon. If I'm not going to play here, I want to go out and get some games in. But I can't control that, that's up to them."
A report in the Telegraph last week revealed that Stoke do expect to loan the 23-year-old winger out to a Championship club, but there’s been no word so far which team might be the destination. He made just two league appearances last season, and his only appearance for the first team this fall was a 45-minute run in Stoke’s 3-1 win over Walsall in a Capital One Cup match on Aug. 28.
"My body feels good and my mind feels good," Shea said. "A few weeks ago I was struggling because I was frustrated, but I feel better now.”
Shea has spent time with Stoke’s Under-21 side in recent weeks and scored in his last appearance, but he’ll be forced to serve a three-match ban for receiving a red card for an off the ball incident in the final minute of additional time last Friday against Reading.
Although he appeared in all seven matches during the CONCACAF Gold Cup and scored the game-winning goal in the final against Panama, Shea featured in just one of the USMNT’s 10 World Cup qualifying matches, a brief cameo off the bench in a scoreless draw against Mexico in March.
