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While Callum Wilson very nearly rolled back the years to score another dramatic late winner for West Ham United, another 30-something veteran in Aaron Cresswell proved that age is indeed just a number.
Neither of the two former England internationals may be capable of playing the full 90 minutes three times a week these days. But manage their game time, rest their aching limbs, and watch their quality shine through.
Former West Ham United striker Bobby Zamora saw enough in Callum Wilson’s cameo in the 0-0 draw with Bournemouth to suggest he should be in the starting XI against Liverpool next time out. Only moments after coming on, Wilson came closer to breaking the deadlock than Taty Castellanos did in the previous 70 minutes.
What to do with Wilson? ⚒️
Start him? Or keep him as an impact sub?
Three hours north at the Bet 365 Stadium in Staffordshire, meanwhile, Aaron Cresswell provided an assist so sublime in Stoke City’s 2-2 draw with Leicester that you could be forgiven for thinking the clocks had rolled back to 2019.
West Ham United icon Aaron Cresswell provides glorious assist for Stoke City
Cresswell joined Stoke while reuniting with Paul Nevin – David Moyes’ old London Stadium assistant – when his West Ham contract expired in July. He departed having provided the fifth most assists of any Hammers player in the Premier League era.
Talk about exalted company; Jarrod Bowen tops the charts, ahead of Mark Noble, Paolo di Canio, Michail Antonio and the Europa Conference League-winning left-back.
Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images
The cross which helped put Stoke ahead against crisis-hit, Gary Rowett-appointing Leicester was his fourth in 20 Championship starts. And what a cross it was. A beautiful, trademark delivery, whipped in with speed and accuracy onto the head of Ben Wilmot.
Cresswell tends to play as a left-sided centre-half in a back three these days. A nod to Stoke boss Mark Robins’ attempts to spare the legs of the now-36-year-old veteran. Still, when he gets the freedom to throw back the years and charge down the flank, Cresswell’s delivery is as accurate as anyone else’s in the Championship.
And we include Sorba Thomas in that.
Sorba Thomas has 16 G/A in the Championship this season
Stoke’s number seven now has nine goals and seven assists to his name. Alongside Divin Mubama, two former West Ham kids formed a deadly Potters partnership in the opening months of 2025/26. Mubama’s goals have dried up since then, as have Stoke’s promotion prospects.
But Thomas, the Welsh wing wizard pulling rabbits out of his hat on a weekly basis, ensured that Robins’ side would remain just seven points adrift of the play-offs rather than nine; setting up Wilmot’s second of the afternoon late on with a fine cross of his own.
“I just think the way we’ve been all season, we’ve been hard to break down. I believe we’ve got one of the best records defensively. There’s still [plenty of] games to go. Trust me, we’re still believing,” Cresswell said earlier in the month, refusing to throw in the hat during another tight play-off charge.
“The squad still believes [we can make the top six]. We’ve got to continue and keep going.”
With Cresswell and Thomas combining down the left-hand side, Stoke have two players who can make the improbable possible.
“Ben Wilmot scored two goals, and the second one from right-back was pretty good,” Robins told the Stoke Sentinel, hailing a pair of former Hammers who who have scored or assisted 20 of Stoke’s 36 league goals between them.
“Aaron Cresswell was on one leg by that point but he makes an outside run and the ball comes in with quality [from Sorba Thomas]. And for Ben Wilmot to follow that in was brilliant.”
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