Stoke City Football Club News

• Nickname:Potters
• Founded:1863
• Manager:Tony Pulis

• Ground:Britannia Stadium
• Capacity:28,218

Kitson strikes optimistic note

05 Sep 2008 - 12:24:59

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Stoke City forward Dave Kitson believes the Potters can replicate his former club Reading's first season in the Premier League and avoid relegation.

City's £5.5million signing left the Royals following their return to the Championship at the end of last term but, after helping his new club take three points from their first three matches, can see similarities with Reading's 2006-07 campaign.

He told The Sentinel: "When we went up with Reading nobody knew what to expect so we just cracked on and had a great time.

"It's the same here and it's amazing to see the similarities between the two clubs. There's the freshness to that first year in the Premier League and an excitement and buzz around town.

"It's amazing and I like being part of those moments in a club's history. To me they're just as important, relatively, as Manchester United going for the league every year. It's a privilege to be part of something like this.

"I've been pleased we've scored in every game, but we've also conceded too many so, as a team, we need to shore that up a little bit.

"But it's a completely new experience to most of the squad and it does take half-a-dozen games to get used to.

"I've seen enough there to think, if we just smooth things over a little bit, and tinker here and there, we'll be all right."