Stoke City Football Club face competition for Alex Smithies.

The young Huddersfield Town goalkeeper is rated as one the brightest prospects in the country, and Tony Pulis is said to be lining up a bid to take him to the Britannia Stadium.

However, it is also being suggested that Gordon Strachan has made the 19-year-old his first target for the New Year, as he is confirmed new manager of Middlesbrough.

The Championship side hope to have an advantage over Stoke in that they could offer Smithies regular first team football, something he would not yet get at the Premier League side.

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