Stoke City: Pulis on a mission to progress in the cup

STOKE manager Tony Pulis is finally hoping for some Carling Cup success after a decade and a half of failure in the competition.

Pulis reached the third round for only the second time when Stoke overcame Cheltenham 3-2 at Whaddon Road on Tuesday night.

The victory was achieved despite Pulis making 10 changes from the side which had triumphed 3-2 over Aston Villa in the Barclays Premier League 72 hours earlier.

Pulis said: "I've got a very poor record in this competition. I think I've got through once to the round we are through to now, the third round, in 15 years, so it has not been very good to me.

"The only previous time I managed it was when I was manager at Gillingham. We played Coventry when they were in the Premier League outfit.

"We drew at our place and then I think their manager, Ron Atkinson, got the sack. I think Gordon Strachan's first game in charge of Coventry was the replay which we won 1-0.

"That is going back a long time. I am sure those two have forgotten about that."

Pulis is undecided what policy he will adopt at other stages of the competition, but was delighted the players currently not in his Premier League line-up did themselves justice against Coca-Cola League One opponents.

He said: "The Carling Cup is a competition that excites you, the further you go in it, and we will keep our fingers crossed that we are rewarded now with a home fixture in the next round.

"Will I stick with same policy throughout the Carling Cup? I am not sure. We will see how we go. But the next game is in between League meetings with Chelsea and Liverpool.

"I was just pleased that, at Cheltenham, players were able to get some action under their belts.

"They are not second-string players as some people like to call them, because the whole squad is very important this year to Stoke City and many the players in action featured in the Championship last season.

"There is also the chance I might pick certain teams to play at our place and pick certain teams to play away so everyone is part of it. We need everyone. They are all important.

"We needed to play. The season has only just got going and we needed some of the lads to get games. We haven't had a reserve game yet this season.

"The attitude was right, no-one was thinking it was going to be a stroll, and it was a good exercise. We want to win every time we play a game of football."