Marathon man Pulis can see the finish line

As the two managers passed in the corridors of the Britannia Stadium after the game, Tony Pulis made sure of the formalities. "Do you know where the room is?" he asked Sam Allardyce, ensuring the Blackburn Rovers manager would be all right for a drink. He probably needed one.

Falling to Liverpool eight days earlier was one thing for Allardyce to ponder; this was another, because it was the first time Blackburn had lost to a team outside the top five since his arrival at Ewood Park. In terms of timing, it could not have been worse.

The result, coupled with wins for Portsmouth and Sunderland, pushed Blackburn to the place immediately above the bottom three, and while Hull City appear to be assuming the identity of the team who make a late charge towards relegation, Blackburn are beginning to bear a strong resemblance too. They have won only one of their last five Premier League games and the 40-point safety mark is becoming increasingly elusive.

"Now there's a big pressure to produce a performance against Wigan Athletic," Allardyce said, referring to next weekend's match at Ewood Park. "We will need a no-lose mentality. If we can try and win a game, yes, but we must make sure we are not on the wrong end of another defeat. Five draws might be enough but we want one win as quickly as we can to settle the nerves."

No chance of a glorious dash for safety then, but before there is a rush to condemn Allardyce for being overcautious, he was being realistic. If this match proved anything, it was that Blackburn's attacking threat is negligible while they have only one fit striker. They need a Roque Santa Cruz or Jason Roberts to play alongside Benni McCarthy.

"Jason is closer," Allardyce said, "but he has a slight crack of the metatarsal so we don't really know. We can't take any risks with him or Roque. We have to be 100 per cent certain."

Which underlined how astute Pulis was during the January transfer window when he acquired James Beattie. He moved to bring in a proven Premier League striker while Allardyce was rebuffing Manchester City's attempts to lure Santa Cruz to Eastlands. Since, Beattie has scored six goals in 12 appearances while Santa Cruz has barely kicked a ball because of a knee injury.

Beattie did not add to his tally in this game but his flick gave Liam Lawrence the space to cut inside Gaël Givet and get the goal which ensured Stoke's ninth home win of the season. "We thought this was the biggest game the club has had in a long, long time," Pulis said. "It was that important."

For Stoke, on 39 points, it means they are a win away from safety. "You buggers wrote us off before a ball was kicked, so if we do it, it will be brilliant," Pulis said. He will be running the London Marathon next Sunday; Stoke have nearly completed theirs.

Stoke City (4-4-2): Sorensen; Wilkinson (Kelly, 50), Shawcross, Ab Faye, Higginbotham; Lawrence, Delap, Whelan, Etherington (Sonko, 88); Beattie (Cresswell, 86), Fuller. Substitutes not used: Simonsen (gk), Olofinjana, Pugh, Camara.

Blackburn Rovers (4-4-2): Robinson; Ooijer, Samba, Nelsen, Givet; Andrews, Mokoena (Dunn, 81), Warnock, Pedersen; Diouf, McCarthy (Villanueva, 69). Substitutes not used: Bunn (gk), Khizanishvili, Grella, Olsson, Doran.

Referee: H Webb (South Yorkshire).

Booked: Stoke Wilkinson, Faye, Fuller; Blackburn Warnock.

Man of the match: Lawrence.

Attendance: 27,500.