TONY PULIS believes that Stoke City face their toughest game of 2010 so far as they aim to extend their unbeaten run to 10 matches at Portsmouth this evening.
The Potters have travelled to the south coast in confident mood after four wins and five draws have seen them make good progress in the Premier League and FA Cup.
But although their next opponents Pompey are deep in trouble, both on and off the field, Pulis feels that they pose a big threat to that unbeaten sequence of results.
"This will be our toughest game of the year so far, and I have absolutely no doubt about that whatsoever," he told stokecityfc.com ahead of the Fratton Park game.
"They may be in a mess down there but they are fighting for their lives and believe me it will be intimidating for us tonight, because they have absolutely nothing to lose.
"The financial situation down there dictates what everyone is talking about, but if you look at their squad of players they have there is an abundance of quality in there.
"They have an enormous group and we were looking at it the other day. They could field two totally different sides and have huge amounts of quality and experience in both. We have got to be on our mettle because if we aren't things won't go the way we want them to."
Having picked up 16 points from 25 games, Pompey need a dramatic upturn in fortunes if they are to retain their top flight status. However, after ousting local rivals Southampton in the FA Cup last weekend, Pulis believes their confidence will now be sky high.
"They looked really relaxed and played some fantastic stuff during the second half against Southampton, and they look as if the shackles are off," he said.
"That win will probably be as a big a confidence boost as they could have possibly got, especially as it was over their rivals away from home. Their supporters will be bouncing again and so will the players and management.
"They know they can't do anything about the finances and what's going on off the pitch, but they can influence what takes place on it. People are seeing them as underdogs now and that is dangerous because they can cause teams a lot of problems."
Should City secure all three points in front of the television cameras, then it will represent a first league double of the season, but Pulis is refusing to look so far ahead.
"We want the win and we will be going there to do that, but I know how difficult it is going to be," he added. "We played them at our place earlier on in the season and I thought they did very well.
"In fact they have played well in a lot of games, but haven't managed to get the wins they have probably deserved. They will want that to change, but we have to go there and stick to our game plan. If we do that and play as well as I know we can, then we are capable of getting the win."
