Stoke boss Pulis optimistic over Arsenal clash

Stoke boss Tony Pulis will be hoping his side won’t be affected by their dramatic extra time win over Manchester City as they look to extend their unbeaten run to twelve games against title-chasing Arsenal at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday evening.

The Potters are yet to lose in 2010 and will feel confident of getting a result against their North London opponents, with the Gunners having already lost 3-1 at the Britannia Stadium last month in the FA Cup.

But manager Tony Pulis is worried that their midweek FA Cup game went into extra time could prove to be a disadvantage to his side, with Arsenal not having played since their comfortable 2-0 win over Sunderland last weekend.

He said: “Arsene Wenger will be absolutely delighted that this game went to two hours, so we have now got to try and prepare the players for Saturday. I told the players afterwards that we have to make sure we turn up on Saturday and give Arsenal a good game because the sooner we get to those 40 points, the better.”

The two sides have also met once in the Premier League this season, with Arsenal eventually woinning 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium. However, the tactics Stoke City use are perfectly suited to the narrow Britannia pitch and the home side have only lost three times in the league there this season, two of those losses coming against the only sides above Arsenal in the league and so Pulis will be hopeful of a result, particularly with the re-emergence of striker Dave Kitson.

“Dave’s come back from the wilderness really,” Pulis told BBC Radio Stoke. “We agreed for him to get his head down, work hard and, if he gets his chance, take it. He’s done smashing.”

The Gunners are hoping to be able to welcome back William Gallas, although if he fails to recover for the fixture Sol Campbell and Mikael Silvestre will be looking to step in for the French international, with Silvestre confident that Arsenal can pick up the win despite the injury problems as long as they play the way they are capable of and stand up to Stoke’s physical style of play.

The veteran defender said: “You get there [Stoke] and you know you’re going to get kicked. They love it, but we can play the ball, that’s how we’re going to respond because that’s the way we are. We can trouble any team so we’re going to be ready to face Stoke and get the three points.”