RICARDO FULLER believes Stoke City face one of their toughest tests of the season when they travel to Craven Cottage to take on Fulham on Wednesday evening.
Roy Hodgson's side have defied the odds to retain a comfortable mid-table finish in the Barclays Premier League and reach the final of the Europa League, but City's Jamaican international insists they won't be taking their foot off the pedal when the two sides meet tomorrow.
"They are a very good team and very hard to play against, especially at their ground," said Fuller, who scooped the 'Goal of the Season' and 'Top Goalscorer' awards at Sunday night's end-of-season Stadium Show. "They have had a remarkable season in reaching the final of the Europa League and doing well in the league so we know it will be hard.
"I think people expected them to drop a little bit in the league because of their cup run but you just look at Sunday when they beat West Ham. They have a squad full of very good players and they will be up for this game against us too, there is no doubt about that.
"Players will be desperate to show what they can do ahead of the final, but we want to end our season on a high and we have the quality in our squad to hurt them too, so I'm sure it will be a very good game."
Victory for Tony Pulis' side will culminate in the Potters surpassing last season's final points tally, and Fuller says that target and 'sheer pride' will ensure he and his team-mates give nothing less than 100 percent effort, in what many people are describing as a 'typical end of season affair'.
"Normally when your task is to stay up and you do that with a few games to go it can be easy to take your foot off the gas and make sure you don't get injured, but we are desperate to get over 45 points," he added.
"A lot of people say that teams in the middle of the league have nothing to play for, but you try telling that to us and the lads at Fulham. We are desperate to go out there and get the win. Our pride was hurt after what happened at Chelsea, but we restored it against Everton.
"Now we just want to get that win to take us on to 47 points. That would be a great achievement for this football club and put us in a great position to go to Manchester United at the weekend and hopefully put in a good performance."
