Pulis seeks to lower expectations

Tony Pulis has guided Stoke City to ninth position in the Premier League

Stoke City manager Tony Pulis insists that some of the Potters' supporters need to be a bit more realistic about their aims for this season.

Stoke were booed off at half-time in last Sunday's 1-0 win over Portsmouth, which left them ninth in the league.

"I didn't think we played well," Pulis told BBC Radio Stoke. "And supporters get frustrated by bad performances.

"But what annoys me is that some people thought it would be a stroll in the park against Portsmouth."

Pompey, who sold more than half their team this summer, are bottom of the league and sacked their manager Paul Hart on Tuesday.

But they were good enough to beat Stoke 4-0 in the Carling Cup less than a month ago. And Pulis points out that they have been no pushovers this season.

The Stoke boss said: "Portsmouth have been in the Premier League for six years and they've got good players.

"It was a real tough game. We've got to be careful that we don't get complacent.

"If we turn up and think we're just going win games, that isn't going to happen. We've got to make sure everyone's focused and together."

The Potters, who finished 12th in their first season back in the top flight for 23 years, have made a promising start to the current campaign. And they travel to Ewood Park, Blackburn on Saturday (1500 GMT) having lost just one of their last six league matches.