Speaking with the Enemy: Stoke City v Liverpool

What is your opinion of Salif Diao?

He has his moments but as with most of the players in the bottom of the Premier League and top of the Championship it is the lack of consistency that keeps them apart from the really top players.

What where your thoughts when you saw Ricardo Fuller slap Andy Griffin?

I didn't see the incident at the time (because I was watching a replay of the goal on the giant video scoreboard.

Grif was carrying an injury and when he cleared the Hammers striker got a half-block on it and the ball dropped a bit lucky for him to be able to curl his shot in quite nicely.

Riccy shouldn't have got involved; it's teamwork that earned us relative success over the last two years so hopefully this will have been a one-off and the pair will have kissed and made up.

Steven Gerrard apart, which Liverpool player would you most like to see in a Stoke shirt?

We're desperate for anyone who can score goals! Torres or Keane till the end of the season would be nice, thanks!

Who is your most important player, and what makes him special?

Teamwork and team spirit is the key, there are no real stars.

Where do you think Stoke will finish come May?

Fourth from bottom was always the target.

What are your expectations for the rest of the season?

Finish with more points than Derby (11), which we've done; get more points than our last season in the top-flight (17), which we've done; and get 20 points by Christmas, which we've done. Now we just need to make sure we finish fourth from bottom or better.

How do you see tomorrow's game going?

It's going to be tough for the Potters, especially with so many players out through injury and suspension, so a repeat of the 0-0 at Anfield would be an achievement.

Prediction?

A repeat of the 0-0 would stop the rot!