'Stoke realistically one win away from safety'

Stoke City fans feel a whole lot better about their team's survival prospects after the 1-0 win at fellow strugglers Cardiff, which sent them five points clear of the Bluebirds in the final relegation place in the Championship.

The Potters have hovered above the dotted line for much of the season, always threatening to pull away to safety before being dragged back into the pack, largely due to their own inconsistency.

Since Mark Robins joined at the turn of the year, improvement has come steadily in increments and coincided with the return to fitness of a number of key players.

The past eight games have yielded 12 points, better performances and just two defeats at Coventry and Millwall that probably could have gone another way.

Stoke will be confident they can get a positive result at home to Sheffield Wednesday where a win would take them up to 50 points and almost certainly guarantee a place in the second tier for next season. Even a draw would leave the teams below them with an awful lot to do to overhaul the Potters.

One slight concern is the presence of promotion-chasing Leeds and Sheffield United on the fixture list - two excellent sides with a need for points of their own.

The worst-case scenario for Stoke would see them heading into a final day clash at a Derby side also fighting the drop and needing points to stay up.

That's the kind of drama and tension every fanbase would rather avoid but that victory in South Wales gives Stoke every chance to have it all wrapped up with their supporters' fingernails still very much intact.