The clubs were involved in two 3-2 thrillers last season, with the Potters losing at St. Mary's in August before winning the return game at the Britannia in February.

Ricardo Fuller had opened the scoring after just ten minutes in the sunshine at Southampton, when he buried the ball into the back of the net after latching onto a Mamady Sidibe flick on.

The home side then scored three consecutive goals through Andrew Surman, Grzegorz Rasiak and Jhon Viafara to move 3-1 ahead.

Substitute Jon Parkin gave the Potters a fighting chance for the remaining eight minutes of the game when he headed home from a corner.

The match at the Britannia Stadium in February saw City surge into a three-goal lead by half-time.

Darren Powell sliced a clearance into his own net after 27 minutes before Ryan Shawcross powered home a Liam Lawrence corner to double Stoke's advantage.

Sidibe made it three a minute before the break, converting another Lawrence corner, to make it a perfect first 45 minutes.

Stern John pulled two goals back for the Saints in the second half to give Tony Pulis' men a nervy end to the game but the points went to the Potters and the club climbed up upto third place in the Championship table.

Club Atletico Osasuna

Lou Macari's City hosted "Los Rojillos" at the Victoria Ground on Tuesday 13th August as part of the pre-season prepations for the 1996/97 campaign.

New signings Hugo Da Costa and Ally Pickering started in defence while home grown youngsters Neil MacKenzie, Mark Birch and Paul Macari also featured.

2,562 people witnessed a two-nil victory for the Potters, with Mark Devlin scoring both goals for Macari's side.

City (4-4-2): Prudhoe (Muggleton); Pickering, Cranson, Da Costa (Birch), Dreyer; Beeston (Philipe), Devlin, Wallace (MacKenzie), Keen; Sheron (P Macari), Carruthers (Gayle).

Club Facts:

* Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez was in charge of the club during the 1996/97 season but was sacked after just nine games having won only one of them.

* Former Norwich defender Rob Ullathorne played for Osasuna and was in the squad that travelled to the Victoria Ground that day. Fellow Englishmen Sammy Lee and Jamie Pollock also played for Los Rojillos.

* Ashley Grimes, Stoke City coach at the time of the game, played for the Spaniards from 1989-91. He was brought back to the British Isles by the Potters and played for one season before moving into the backroom staff.

* Former Premier League strikers Savo Milosevic (Aston Villa), John Aloisi (Portsmouth) Ibrahima Bakayoko (Everton) and Fabian de Freitas (Bolton Wanderers) all played for the club.

* Current Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia began his career with Osasuna, whilst Gunners team-mate Carlos Vela spent last season on loan there.