STOKE City manager Tony Pulis has urged his players, and the club’s vociferous fans, to reproduce the siege mentality which upset the odds last season.

Pulis’ men rubbished their tag as relegation fodder last term by finishing 11 points clear of the drop zone in their first year in the Premier League.

But Pulis is now beating the drum about ‘second season syndrome’ in a bid to eradicate any possibility of complacency creeping in.

He said: “The statistics show the second year is the most difficult and I want to make absolutely sure that no one takes things for granted.

“I’ve already had other managers onto me saying our players and fans won’t reach the same heights and intensity as they did last season. We have to prove those people wrong.

“It is absolutely vital to this football club that we stay in the Premiership for three years. If we can do that, we will be able to build rock solid foundations and then push on to be a force.

“There are likely to be some choppy waters over those three years, but I’m fired up, my players are fired up and I’m positive our fans will be as well.”

Pulis is apprehensive about today’s opening fixture at home to Burnley and admitted he would rather have faced them at a later date.

He said: “If I had the choice, I wouldn’t go anywhere near promoted teams for the first six weeks of the season.

“It will be like a cup final for Burnley. They have sold all their tickets and the atmosphere is going to be electric.

“If our players or are fans aren’t right at it, we could come unstuck. We’ve all got to be raring to go from the first whistle.

“There are a lot of similarities between Burnley and us.

“There are bigger clubs in the Championship and we’ve both upset the odds to get where we are.

"Owen Coyle has done a wonderful job and he’s a nice lad.”