´Cup final´ looms for Stoke, says Pulis

Stoke City manager Tony Pulis believes his men have a ‘cup final’ against Dynamo Kiev as they eye the Europa League knockout stages.

Dean Whitehead and substitute Peter Crouch helped secure the a 2-1 win in Israel over Maccabi Tel-Aviv, leaving English Premier League club Stoke top of Group E on 10 points.

“I thought the lads were brilliant tonight,” Pulis said.

“The balance looked good. The three centre-halves were very solid. There was a bit of a lapse at the end but that’s a little bit of tiredness I think.”

“I’m very pleased. They huffed and puffed a little bit but I thought we coped with it smashing.”

Danny Higginbotham made a return to the starting line-up after seven months out with a cruciate ligament injury, and Pulis was delighted to see the defender back: “I told him about two weeks ago that this was the game I was looking at and to get himself ready for it. He was smashing before he tired at the end with one or two others as well,” he said.

“Wilson (Palacios) got another 65 minutes. He still isn’t as sharp as we want him to be but he needs to play games to get that. It’s all great experience for the lads.”

Stoke need to take a point in their remaining two games to secure a safe passage to the knockout stages, while a win would seal top spot.

“Kiev at the Britannia now is a cup final,” Pulis said of the match on December 1.

“If we win the game, we’ll win the group, and if we don’t get beaten, we’ll go through, it’s as simple as that.”

“It’s a massive game for us and I’m sure it’ll be a great night because they are a good side. I think it’s the toughest group so, if we do it, it’s a big achievement, but we still have to do it.”