Championship showdown: Pulis and his boys Stoke up for the Premier League

Stoke City missed out on the play-offs by two points last season but it seems likely that the Potters will avoid a repeat occurrence this time around. A nine-point cushion separates them from seventh-placed Burnley, although there’s no question that Tony Pulis’ team have their eyes on automatic promotion after just one defeat in their last 16 league matches.

Tuesday’s slender 3-2 win over Southampton moved the Staffordshire club to within two points of the Championship summit, giving City all the incentive they need to go top when they entertain Scunthorpe on Friday night. And that’s where they’re likely to stay for the duration of the campaign when you consider the rich vein of form the team have been enjoying in 2008.

As Pulis is keen to point out, this Stoke team is full of goals, encapsulated by the fact that centre-half Ryan Shawcross has eight to his name this season. Which is one more than his defensive sidekick Leon Cort has managed since the end of November. Of course, it also helps to have a prolific striker in the side - and there are few better in the division than Ricardo Fuller, who has plundered 15 goals, including a December hat-trick against promotion rivals West Brom.

Recent victories over Cardiff (2-1), Wolves (4-2) and Saints (3-2) illustrate that while the defence is far from watertight right now, Stoke are outscoring decent opposition home and away, boding well for forthcoming games against Scunny, Ipswich, QPR and Burnley. Their most difficult remaining match is a trip to Watford, while Bristol City still have to visit the Britannia Stadium, a fortress that hasn’t been breached since November 10.

While Watford lead the division after hanging on to beat Leicester with ten men, trips to Charlton, Burnley, Bristol City, Plymouth and West Brom await Aidy Boothroyd’s team, whose negative style will eventually come a cropper on the road. The loss of striker Marlon King to Wigan may also lead to the goals drying up, despite Darius Henderson and Nathan Ellington performing well right now.

And what of the Baggies? Trips to Molineux and The Valley await in March, although Tony Mowbray’s team are currently also in a mini-slump, having registered just five points from their last five matches. As well as Stoke and Watford, newly-promoted Bristol City have now leapfrogged Albion, and it’s clear that Gary Johnson’s men are proving a lot of people wrong by lasting the pace well into February. Can they achieve an unprecedented double promotion from League One into the Premier League in two seasons?

While the Hornets and Baggies continue to dominate the title betting, it could be an unexpected tale of two cities that secure those two sought-after automatic promotion spots. There’s a quiet confidence in Stoke-on-Trent that the Potters can secure a place among next season’s Premier League elite without playing the lottery that is the play-offs.