TONY PULIS is confident that his Stoke City players will come out firing on all cylinders for the visit of Champions League hopefuls Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday after enjoying their first 'free week' for some time.

The Potters have a had congested fixture schedule since the beginning of February and their only other occasion without a midweek match saw many of the players going away on international duty earlier this month.

Pulis believes the busy period has taken its toll on the players, especially with injuries and suspensions limiting his options in terms of player rotation, and so he has welcomed the break from playing this week.

"Physically, I think the players have coped very well and I felt we looked the stronger side in the last 30 minutes against Aston Villa," explained City's manager. "But mentally, I think such a busy time has left them a bit jaded.

"Therefore, we have taken it a bit easier in the early part of this week and hopefully that will mean that they go out firing when we face Tottenham because we will certainly need to do that against another very good side."

He added: "It has been a tough period, but it's a fact that the more successful you are, the more games you have to play. We've had additional games because we had a fantastic run to the quarter finals of the FA Cup."

City have lost only once in 10 Premier League matches in 2010 so far and will be looking to extend that run against Spurs.

Their last two matches have ended in draws - 1-1 at Burnley and 0-0 at home to Aston Villa - but Pulis stressed: "Although you could argue that we could have won both games, we must not be greedy. We have had an excellent season and we just need to get a couple more good results to take us to the 40-point mark.

"There's going to be a full house here on Saturday for what should be a cracking game, and it would be great if we could get the win that takes to within a point of that 40-point mark, but we know it's going to be very tough."