Just when it looks like most of the Premier League have figured out Stoke City and their way of playing they suddenly hit back with two wins on the bounce to propel themselves up the table.

A last-gasp victory over Birmingham was followed up at the Britannia with a comfortable win against Liverpool and while the Potters won’t win many awards for their style, their tactic of pressurising the visitors high up the pitch paid dividends.

It didn’t start so promisingly. After weeks of complaining about refereeing decisions going against them, it was vital for Tony Pulis’s side to put fears they were being victimised out of their minds – but when legitimate penalty claims went against them it makes the task harder.

But the Merseysiders’ failure to deal with a Rory Delap throw-in and Steven Gerrard’s usual habit of hitting long hopeful balls especially when his team is losing played into the Potters’ hands.

By the end of it, Liverpool fans were so traumatized they started chants of ‘Dalglish’ from the away end.

It shows that, while very predictable, Stoke seem to have a knack of causing the opposition to become completely disorientated and it may be enough to keep them up this season.

Not every team who visit the Britannia will be as generous as Liverpool were and Stoke still need to continue improving otherwise their recent resurgence will come to an abrupt end. Just ask Liverpool.