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Saido Berahino banished to Stoke under-23s after turning up late for reserves match. @JPercyTelegraph
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John Percy
5 APRIL 2018 • 10:30PM
Saido Berahino has been banished to Stoke’s under-23s after infuriating manager Paul Lambert with his time-keeping.

Berahino, Stoke’s £12m signing, is facing an increasingly bleak future with the Premier League strugglers after turning up late for the club’s under-23s game on Easter Monday.

The former England under-21 international is understood to have been fined for the incident and was ordered to train with the under-23s on Thursday, in another setback to his faltering career.

Lambert has put in place a code of conduct since his appointment in January, which includes arriving at the club’s Clayton Wood training ground for 9.15am in the morning.

But Berahino is alleged to have reported late for the game against Aston Villa’s under-23s on Monday and is now paying the price, with his chances of a first-team recall appearing remote at this stage. Berahino did play for 64 minutes in the game, which Stoke lost 3-1.

It is the latest example of poor discipline from Stoke’s squad, after Ibrahim Afellay was told to stay away from the club and Erik Pieters was fined £70,000 for breaking a curfew the night before the game against Everton.

Lambert was prepared to give Berahino a chance to save his Stoke career, recently branding him the best finisher at the club, but his latest misdemeanour is said to have left the manager exasperated.

Berahino is now set to miss this Saturday’s game against Tottenham Hotspur – the team which made four bids for him nearly three years ago when the striker was at former club West Bromwich Albion. Stoke signed him from West Brom for a potential £15m in January 2017 but he is still waiting for his first goal – indeed, he has not scored at senior level for over two years.