WILSON Palacios insists he can prove his fitness in time to make his debut in Saturday's mouth-watering clash against Liverpool at the Britannia.

The 27-year-old Honduran has been nursing an on-going knee problem since joining the club in a £6m deadline-day deal from Tottenham last week.

But he believes he can prove his fitness in time to twist the manager's arm ahead of the big match (3pm).

"I hope I can join the group to train, I am desperate to play on Saturday," he said, via an interpreter in his first interview since joining Stoke. "I just want to be part of the squad and, hopefully, with the help of my team-mates, we can win."

The powerfully-built midfielder, who first came to this country as a loan signing at Birmingham in 2007, added: "I'm just a player that always wants to win. I don't care whether it is against a big team or a small team.

"When I go on to the field, I just want to win games. That's all I want to do."

Palacios, whose form at Tottenham was said to have dipped after the kidnap and death of his brother back in Honduras two years ago, says he is chuffed that Tony Pulis has shown so much faith in him.

And he dismisses the notion that moving from Tottenham to Stoke is a backward move.

"I do not think this is a step down for me at all," he said. "I just want to play football and I have come here to play. I just hope everything goes well for the future.

"I am very happy that Tony Pulis is a fan of mine. Now I am here, I need to show my appreciation to him with good performances.

"I will do everything I can to re-pay his confidence."

He will also be delighted to see fellow Spanish speaker Diego Arismendi remaining at Stoke, at least for now, after the Uruguayan was named in the club's Premier League and Europa League squads.

MARTIN SPINKS