By Daniel Rhodes.

Travelling to the Britannia Stadium on a warm, windless Spring afternoon had gone down in British footballing folklore as ‘a true test’ and even the commentator said “all potential champions are measured” by how well they coped with the Potters’ challenge posed to them. Most of it is cliche-ridden nonsense; although, under Pulis, particularly on a Tuesday evening (but obviously not a Monday or Wednesday) and with more testing weather conditions, not even Lionel Messi could “do it”.

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