The visit of Blackburn in the Premier League marks the milestone for Pulis, who was first appointed manager at the Britannia Stadium in November 2002. Having prevented the Potters from slipping into the football league's third tier in his first season and then establishing them in the Championship, Pulis was sacked in 2005 after falling out with the club's Icelandic owners and spent a year as manager of Plymouth Argyle. But Potters chairman Peter Coates brought Pulis back to the club in 2006 after buying out the Icelanders and it has been a success story ever since, culminating in promotion to the top flight at the end of the 2007/08 campaign and an impressive 12th-place finish last year. Stoke are currently occupying 12th spot this season as well and with games in hand on the teams immediately above them - including Blackburn - the club are in a good position to take the next step up and make the top 10 between now and May. Pulis is thinking even further ahead, though, and has warned his players against complacency as they look to establish themselves as a force in the Premier League. "It's been lovely. Both spells have been different and they have been enjoyable in lots of respects - but I still have a job to do, a massive job," Pulis said. "We have got to stay in this Premier League for at least three years, like I keep telling everybody. We mustn't get blase about it. "If we stay in the Premier League for three years then I think the football club will really push on, but it needs that base. "The 300 games have been fantastic, to be able to say that. It's a great club and it's a tough club to manage, but I wouldn't have it any other way. "The most important thing is that you keep your feet on the ground, you keep working hard and you keep driving forward. "I keep relaying that to the players. It's very important that you do that in any profession because you get your ups and downs." One player that has seen his fair share of change at Stoke is Mamady Sidibe, who arrived at the Britannia Stadium in 2005 just as Pulis' first spell was coming to an end. Sidibe this week signed a new contract that extends to the summer of 2012 and Pulis was delighted to hold on to a player who has played a vital role in the club's recent progress. "Mama has been a great signing for us. I actually signed him on a free transfer from Gillingham and got sacked the day after - I put it down to him really," Pulis joked. "But he has been a great signing for this football club, he has been absolutely top-drawer. "I'm so pleased for him because he is a great lad, everybody in the dressing room likes him. He has proved that he is a handful in the Premier League as well. "Mama has always stepped up to the mark, whether we were fighting for our lives in the Championship, playing for promotion, fighting to stay in the Premier League, and now trying to establish ourselves - he has always moved up that gear. "He has got his critics but he is such a good team player." Another signature Pulis secured this week was that of Bosnia goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, who completed a move from Portsmouth on transfer deadline day. Stoke had been in long-running talks to sign Pompey's first-choice stopper David James, but Pulis revealed that it was James' understudy Begovic who had first interested them. "People think that Begovic was just a shot in the dark, but we actually asked about Begovic before James," Pulis said. "We were told he wasn't available and then 12 days into the James saga, we were told then that he was available and that he was going to go to Tottenham. "Luckily for us, we managed to speak to the agent and told him we would be interested, and it went from there." Pulis would not be drawn on whether or not he would be allowing Steve Simonsen - now Stoke's third-choice keeper - to go out on loan, but insisted the 30-year-old was still very much a part of his plans. Begovic will be included in the squad for Saturday's match, while club captain Abdoulaye Faye faces a late fitness test after suffering back spasms.
