by Martin Spinks
martin.spinks@thesentinel.co.uk

STOKE boss Tony Pulis has laughed off any talk of reaching Europe this season after urging fans to avoid the pitfalls of the infamous second-season syndrome.

Stoke head to Blackburn tomorrow in ninth spot and knowing victory will nudge them above Liverpool for at least 24 hours.

But Pulis insists Stoke’s only priority for now remains the 40-point marker for clubs seeking to avoid relegation – and is warning against the kind of complacency that may have left some fans taking victory over Portsmouth last weekend for granted.

“Because Pompey had a bad start, people expected Stoke to just turn up and roll them over,” he claimed.

“That’s the complacency that can cause problems. That’s second-season scenario. It’s a weakness clubs can drop into and it’s a banana skin waiting for you.

“Supporters will always have their say, and rightly so if they pay to watch games.

What frustrates me is that some think it will be a stroll in the park, but Portsmouth have won the FA Cup, been in the Premier League five or six years and still have good players. But there are no gimmies in this league. Just ask David Moyes at Everton.

“As soon as we get to 40 points we’ll look at it, but at the moment any talk about Europe is absolutely ridiculous.

“It’s a tough, tough league and we’ve only had one season here.

“You can’t stop expectation and people wanting more and more, but we have to keep our feet on the ground and keep battling to make players understand where we are.”

Pulis heads to Blackburn tomorrow with several selection teasers to solve, but he accepts the criticism from some quarters after holding back on fans’ favourites like Tuncay and Liam Lawrence.

“There will always be opinion on who should and shouldn’t be picked,” he admitted, “and that just stimulates discussion. Everybody is trying to pick the team for me and I understand that. Supporters will always have their say, and rightly so if they pay to watch games.

“The monster of the press keeps feeding and feeding and feeding, then there’s people having their opinion on radio, but we have to learn to live with it.”

Pulis extended his best wishes to Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce ahead of his heart surgery today, while also revealing he is to undergo an annual health MOT next month.

Despite running last April’s London Marathon for charity, he admitted:

“In the last couple of years I’ve probably been less fit than ever because I don’t have the time or energy to do all the fitness work I normally did.

“But stress for me is soldiers out in Iraq and Afghanistan not knowing what’s round the next corner.

“We put enormous pressure on ourselves as managers to try to succeed, but the pressure on those boys out there is totally different.”