by Michael Baggaley
michael.baggaley@thesentinel.co.uk

STOKE City defender Danny Higginbotham has given Tony Pulis a pre-season boost by declaring himself fully fit after a back operation.

The 30-year-old was expected to miss the start of pre-season, but will report back with rest of the squad for the first day of training on Thursday, and is available for Stoke’s opening friendlies at Newcastle Town and Nantwich Town on Sunday.

Higginbotham was forced out of the final five games of last season with the back problem, which meant he couldn’t walk unaided at times.

But an operation at the end of April was a success and he is ready to stake his claim for the left-back spot he filled successfully last season.

Higginbotham has spent much of the close season working with physio Dave Watson to ensure he would be ready for the start of training.

He said: “Everything is fine now apart from a little bit of stiffness, but that’s just ‘pre-season pain’ from all the running I’ve been doing.

“It’s a relief to be sorted. When I had the operation, they told me I could be out for three months, so I’m the right side of that.

“If you miss pre-season then you are always playing catch up and sometimes you don’t make that up until towards the end of the season.”

Higginbotham started 30 games last season and was made Tony Pulis’s first-choice left-back. He also offers experienced cover in central defence, although Pulis is looking to bring in a centre-half, with West Ham’s James Collins among those to have crossed his radar.

Higginbotham says the Stoke squad will be just as determined to succeed as they were last summer when they prepared for the club’s first season in the top flight for 23 years.

He said: “We are just as hungry for it as we were last year and no one is going to be taking their foot off the gas.

“If people want to write is off again then that’s fine.

“There might actually be a little more expectation on us this time, but as a group we are a year stronger and wiser.”

Meanwhile, Higginbotham says no-one at Stoke will be writing off the promoted trio of Wolves, Birmingham and Burnley – particularly after the Potters defied the odds last season.

The defender has stayed up with newly-promoted sides for each of the last two seasons, having achieved the feat with Sunderland in 2007-2008.

He said: “At Sunderland we were the only one of the three to stay up, but last year two teams did it. The three promoted teams all have good squads and I think they will be looking at us and how we coped.”

Those views are echoed by chairman Peter Coates, who says City can’t bank on the promoted teams filling the relegation places.

Wolves chief executive Jez Moxey, who held the same post at Stoke, has spoken with Coates to see how City survived.

Coates said: “I think all three promoted clubs are going to have competitive teams. There will be no soft touches – unfortunately.”