Stoke have a point to prove when they travel to Barclays Premier League strugglers Bolton on Sunday, according to manager Tony Pulis.
It was another successful night for the Potters in Europe on Thursday night, with Stoke beating Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-1 in Israel to take their Europa League record this season to seven wins from eight matches. It ended a run of three straight defeats while Stoke's record after their Europa League group matches so far reads played three, lost three.
"We have a point to prove on Sunday and that is can we go somewhere and get a result after a European game, and the next opportunity is against Bolton," Pulis said.
Publicly Pulis has been very diplomatic about the scheduling that saw his side face Newcastle in the league on Monday, but privately he must feel an already punishing fixture list has been made unnecessarily tougher.
He made nine changes to the side beaten by Alan Pardew's men for Thursday night's game but several of those were enforced, with the likes of Ryan Shawcross, Marc Wilson, Matthew Etherington, Jermaine Pennant and Rory Delap struggling with injuries.
"We'll see what the reaction is," said Pulis. "The players have been brilliant and they'll work and give everything they possibly can against Bolton. Hopefully we'll be able to make a few changes.
"We've been a little bit unfortunate. We're not going to moan about it because we're enjoying this as much as we can but to actually get caught with a TV game on a Monday night when they know you've got a European game on a Thursday was always going to be difficult. But we can't criticise because we take the money like everybody else."
If Sunday's game is a key one for Stoke, it is even more so for their opponents, who have had a shocking start to the season and have lost eight of their last nine league games.
Bolton challenged for Europe last season before a 5-0 thrashing by Stoke in the FA Cup semi-finals brought their momentum to a juddering halt, but Pulis believes manager Owen Coyle can quickly turn things around.
He said: "The Premier League can change in three or four games, if you can put a run together you shoot half way up the table. Owen knows that. They'll be pretty solid and they'll know what to do and what the situation is."
Source: PA
