Stoke chairman Peter Coates believes the club are almost safe from relegation after reaching 39 points.
The Potters have beaten Middlesbrough, West Brom and Blackburn, and drawn with Newcastle, in their last four outings to pull clear of trouble.
They are now eight points clear of the relegation zone with five games to play and Coates is confident of survival, although he realises the job is not quite done yet.
He told Sky Sports News: "We think we're nearly there but we don't count our chickens. We've been around a long time and we don't take anything for granted but it seems pretty good to me.
"I think our supporters think we're there and our great player Abdoulaye Faye thinks we've got there but we keep our feet on the ground.
"We'll stick at it and we'd like to get as many points as we can and finish well."
Stoke were written off by many at the start of the season but Coates maintains that he never doubted the players or manager Tony Pulis.
He explained: "I have always felt that we would stay up. It's just a gut feeling, there's no science in it, but I thought we were the sort of team with the right management that would make it."
Stoke's direct, physical approach has made them a difficult team to play but Coates believes Pulis' men have also been good to watch.
"I don't think people give us credit for the football we play," he said. "We played West Brom the other week and got a fantastic result and I thought we played better football than West Brom.
"You get stereotyped with what you do, long balls or short balls, but the game is about different styles.
"We can't all play like Arsenal but it is a game that accommodates variety and that is good I think."
0 comments:
Post a Comment