The Potters will complete a gruelling week or so on Tuesday night when they host Tottenham in the third round of the season's first domestic knock-out competition. It will be the club's third game in just six days and considering the first of them involved long journeys to and from Kiev and the second resulted in a 4-0 defeat on Wearside, Pulis and his players could be forgiven for feeling the effects of that run of fixtures. However, the manager, who insisted on Sunday that the demands on his team paled into insignificance when compared with the plight of the miners who lost their lives in last week's pit disaster in his native south Wales, was not looking for sympathy. He said: "It's a learning curve, not just for the football club, but for me as a manager as well to manage it in the right way. "But as I have said before, if you burst that bubble and look outside at what's happening in the real world, then to make excuses is not right, and we won't be doing that at this football club. "We will do our best, put a team out like we did yesterday, like we did in Kiev, like we did the previous weeks. We will put a team out. "We want to have a go. Everybody has a go and everybody works hard - that's the bottom line. Everybody has a go and works hard. "That's the stamp on this football club, and it will be while I am the manager. I expect everybody to give their best and whichever team I put out on Tuesday night, I expect them to give their best." Stoke's defeat at the Stadium of Light was their first in 10 games this season and came despite Pulis making eight changes to the side which had started Thursday evening's 1-1 Europa League draw with Dynamo Kiev. Their presence in Europe is a result of their exploits in the FA Cup last season, when they reached the final, only to be beaten 1-0 by Manchester City at Wembley, where they had earlier booked their place with a 5-0 semi-final demolition of Bolton. With so much football to play in the current campaign, the Carling Cup could easily be given a lower priority, but Pulis is refusing to treat the competition as such. He said: "I was really gutted that we lost yesterday and if we lose on Tuesday night, I will be even worse. "If we lose against Manchester United on the following Saturday, which could happen, then I will be worse again. "But you have to get up and keep pushing on. Every game that we played, we enjoyed last season. "To get to Wembley twice was absolutely fantastic, and I am sure the supporters would love to do it again, and that's what we will be trying to do." Pulis is likely to make changes once again, although he does not expect to have any fresh selection problems after the Sunderland game. Asked if there were any new injuries, he said: "I'm not sure. A few broken hearts, but nothing else."
