In seven previous ties, the earliest in 1928 and the latest just five years ago, Stoke have never overcome the Gunners. The closest the Potters have come to victory was in 1971 and again a year later when they held Arsenal to a draw in the initial tie, only to lose out in a replay. With Pulis - who is again close to signing Portsmouth goalkeeper David James - hailing Arsene Wenger's current side as "one of the greatest teams in Europe," not many will fancy Stoke's chances of victory in Sunday's fourth-round tie at the Britannia Stadium. City do at least have a home victory over Arsenal in the Premier League 14 months ago to fall back on, and Wenger is again likely to send out his young guns. That at least offers the Potters a glimmer of hope, and as Pulis said: "It would be nice to put one over on them. "You look at the history of this club and what's happened in the past, there will be a lot of people from my generation hoping we can beat Arsenal. "The only thing I can guarantee is that I will put out a team that will go out there and give it their best shot for 90 minutes. "We'll play with plenty of spirit and commitment, that's for sure." While Arsenal may have risen to the top of the league following a 4-2 win over Bolton on Wednesday, Stoke at least go into the game on the back of a three-match unbeaten run. That includes last Saturday's 1-1 home draw with Liverpool which was a game for the purist as there was little via way of redeeming features from either side. Pulis, though, feels his team were unfairly criticised in the wake of the game, and believes if they can stifle Arsenal the way they did Liverpool, then an upset may be on the cards. "Against Liverpool people were a little negative towards us, which was wrong because we had 10 corners to their none," assessed Pulis. "We gave them a proper game, and then on Wednesday Rafael Benitez played virtually the same side against Tottenham and they won. "I think at times people forget where we are and what we're about. "But if we can now put in the same performance, show a little more quality in the final third, then you never know." Although survival is naturally Pulis' overwhelming target for this season, he is adamant his players will not be shirking their responsibilities just because it is the FA Cup. "The main objective on Sunday is to beat Arsenal. There is no way in a million years we'll have thoughts of anything else," insisted Pulis. "It's not as if we're playing on Tuesday and we're worried about injuries or suspensions. "We've a free week, so I'll be picking a very strong team, don't worry about that." Pulis looks set to have a full squad to choose from as Abdoulaye Faye and Rory Delap have recovered from knocks which forced them off in the first half of the game with the Reds.
