Tony Pulis has urged his side to get over the 40-point barrier when they entertain relegation-threatened Hull City, but knows that the Tigers will provide the Potters with a tough test at the Britannia Stadium this weekend.

The visitors secured their first victory since the arrival of temporary football management consultant Iain Dowie last weekend, a 2-0 win over Fulham which has put the Tigers level with fourth bottom West Ham United with a game in hand.

And Pulis has paid tribute to his opposite number, believing that Hull are more than capable of retaining their Premier League status.

"I think they have got as good a chance as anybody to stay up, it is going to be a really, really tough game and we have got to be ready," said Pulis.

"Iain has done well wherever he has gone, he always gets his team well organised and committed. They will have been more than happy with last week's victory and it will have been a massive confidence boost for them."

While the Tigers are heavily involved in a relegation battle, the Potters all but guaranteed their Premier League safety with a superb 1-0 win at Upton Park and Pulis has said that match-winner Ricardo Fuller is playing even better than he did last season, despite scoring fewer goals than he did in the last campaign.

"He does things that top players can do and I think that is the biggest compliment I can give him. He is a very exciting player and you don't know what he is going to do next, we brought him on last week as the game opened up as he gets a chance to kill teams."

He added: "He will be disappointed to have only scored two league goals so far this season and he will be looking to improve on that in the final few games, but I think he has played much better as a team player this season in terms of working hard and putting a lot of effort in."

Last weekend's victory put City onto 39 points and Pulis has expressed his desire to surpass the 45 points his side accumulated last season.

"It would be nice to get to 40 points as quickly as we can and it would then be a great achievement for the club to beat last year's tally, especially along with the FA Cup run we went on this season."

There remain doubts over the fitness of defender Ryan Shawcross, while skipper Abdoulaye Faye and David Kitson will also be assessed ahead of Saturday's encounter after picking up knocks at West Ham.