Jonathan Walters scored twice as Stoke City cruised to a commanding 6-0 drubbing of Wrexham in a pre-season friendly this evening.
Mark Hughes named a strong side for his return to the city of his birth, and the visitors dominated the opening exchanges, creating a host of chances in the first 20 minutes.
The breakthrough arrived shortly afterwards as Mame Biram Diouf was slid through on goal before showing pace to get away from his marker and slot the ball under the keeper.
It was 2-0 shortly before the half-hour mark when Walters beat the offside trap and looped an effort over a helpless Cameron Belford from a tight angle.
The third goal arrived with just four minutes left of the first half, and it was a landmark moment for Marco van Ginkel, who burst forward from the halfway line before finding the bottom corner for his first goal in a Stoke shirt.
Belford continued to be kept busy in the second half, pulling off good saves to prevent Walters, Van Ginkel and Diouf from adding to their personal tallies.
The former would not be denied for long, however, as he grabbed his second of the night with a simple tap-in after Stephen Ireland and Joselu had combined to pounce on a defensive error.
Joselu got his own name on the scoresheet just a minute later, opening his account for the club with a deflected effort that left Belford wrong-footed and unable to prevent the ball from looping in.
The hosts had a chance to pull back a consolation goal with 10 minutes remaining when Marc Wilson was penalised for a handball in the area, but Kayden Jackson's penalty was saved by Daniel Bachmann.
The Potters took full advantage of that let-off to add a sixth late on when youngster Dom Telford span away from his man to fire a low effort into the far corner.
Barney Corkhill
