Pulis relishing prospect of landmark game at Stoke

West Brom boss Tony Pulis is excited at the prospect of achieving a personal milestone at his former club Stoke City on Saturday.

Pulis will reach 1,000 competitive games as a manager this weekend and does so at Stoke’s bet365 Stadium where he spent 10 years across two spells.

The 58-year-old is relishing returning to his old stomping ground and will fancy his side’s chances of claiming all three points with Stoke propping up the Premier League table having claimed just one point from their opening five matches.

He told a news conference: “Getting to 1,000 games in management and for the game to drop at Stoke, it’s amazing really.

“It’ll be a tough game and Stoke have great players. I have great respect for Stoke City. We have to play well.

“When I come out of football I’ll look back and think of my 1,000 games as an achievement. Now it’s just the next game for me.

“I have been privileged and honoured to have managed a lot of clubs on the way to taking charge of 1,000 games.”

Pulis refused to dwell on Stoke’s problems with the pressure starting to mount on current boss Mark Hughes. The Welshman added: “I’m more concerned about how we do and how we prepare for the game than how Stoke are getting on at the moment.”

Pulis and West Brom endured a difficult transfer window due to the club’s protracted takeover by Chinese businessman Guochuan Lai.

That led to the Baggies taking free agents Marouane Chamakh and Momo Sissoko on trial but Pulis says neither will be offered a contract at The Hawthorns.

“We have decided against taking Chamakh and Sissoko,” he said. “They have moved on and we wish them well.”