Alex Neil claims the last seven days have shown what his Stoke side are capable of in the remainder of the Sky Bet Championship season.
Having started the campaign reasonably slowly, the Potters have exploded into life in the past week with successive victories over Sunderland, Leeds and Middlesbrough.
The latest of those wins saw them triumph 2-0 over Boro at the Riverside Stadium thanks to first-half goals from Michael Rose and Mehdi Leris.
The win saw Stoke climb into the top half of the table for the first time this season, with Neil confident his side will only get better as his summer signings continue to bed in.
He said: “I think the last three results and performances show where we could get to. It shows the potential.
“I think we look relatively settled now in terms of how we’re going to play, and we’ve managed to churn out three great performances and three great results in a row.
“We’re not getting ahead of ourselves – I think there’s been too many false dawns at Stoke, but I think, for us, we’ve got great potential and great scope. We’re only going to get better, and I’m expecting us to be good this season.”
Stoke’s win was achieved without goalkeeper Mark Travers, who was recalled by his parent club Bournemouth on Friday because of an injury to their first-choice Neto.
Neil said: “We’re gutted. You want as many strong players in your squad as you can. To lose Trav is hugely disappointing, especially because I thought he was coming on to a great game just before he left.
“He was feeling at ease at the club. It’s only just into double figures of games that he’s played for us, but unfortunately he’s had to go back. That’s a blow, but football’s always challenging somewhere along the line.”
Middlesbrough were chasing the game from the moment Rose headed home from a corner in the eighth minute, and fell further behind when Leris fired an angled drive into the bottom corner eight minutes before the break.
Josh Coburn struck the crossbar with a long-range drive, but Michael Carrick admitted his side had fallen short of the standards they had set as they embarked on a seven-game winning run that is now at an end.
Carrick said: “It’s disappointing. You’ve got to put things into perspective as well though. They are a good team, and if you are little bit off it then you get punished in this league.
“It just shows the levels that it takes to win games and look like you’re winning well. We were just a little bit off it really, from the start you could just feel we weren’t quite there.
“Even then, at half-time, I thought we finished the half well enough where there was enough in it there to have a real good go in the second half. It just didn’t really materialise in the end.”
Tuchel bemoans lack of focus as Bayern slump to final-day defeat
Departing Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel was unhappy with his team's lack of focus following their 4-2 loss at Hoffenheim on Saturday.
Bayern threw away a two-goal lead, condemning them to a third-place finish behind unbeaten Bayern Leverkusen and Stuttgart
After failing to win the Bundesliga title for a 12th consecutive season, Tuchel's side will also go without domestic or European silverware for the first time in more than a decade.
"We started really well, but then we had a string of individual mistakes," Tuchel said in a short press conference.
The coach is leaving Bayern after just over a year in charge after the club announced his departure in February. There had been talks to potentially reverse that decision last week, but no agreement was reached.
"In the second half we played well for 15 minutes, but then it was again a series of individual mistakes and loss of possession," Tuchel said. "We gave away a two-goal lead for a completely unnecessary and bitter defeat."
Despite a string of injury absences, Bayern were 2-0 up by the sixth minute but Hoffenheim scored four times, including an Andrej Kramaric hat-trick in the second half to turn the game around.
"It happens far too often, like that. It happened in Stuttgart where we conceded two late goals [for a 3-1 defeat]. In Heidenheim, the same [for a 3-2 loss]. Here the same. It just happens too often," Tuchel added.
"I have an explanation for that, but it is not for the public."
Bayern's Aleksandar Pavlovic, who is part of Germany's preliminary Euro 2024 squad, went off injured early in the match and will undergo further tests.
"He twisted his ankle. We will have to wait and see what the checks show," Tuchel said.
Man City will come back fighting after WSL title loss - Taylor
Gareth Taylor says that Manchester City will "come back fighting" after losing out on the Women’s Super League title on the final day.
City beat Aston Villa 2-1 thanks to goals from Mary Fowler and Lauren Hemp on Saturday, but ultimately fell just short, missing out to Chelsea on goal difference.
Emma Hayes led the Blues to a fifth consecutive WSL title with a 6-0 thrashing of Manchester United at Old Trafford, having made up their inferior goal difference with an equally impressive 8-0 win over Bristol City two weeks ago.
Taylor has reflected on a "mix of emotions" after narrowly missing out on being champions.
Speaking to BBC Sport after the game, he said: "I feel really proud of the team's performance. The mad thing is we could have maybe scored double figures today quite easily. That's the difference.
"To win 18 games in the season and still come up short is not easy but we have. It's been a big push from the team, we've worked incredibly hard, and we'll come back fighting."
When asked what lessons City can take from this season, Taylor added: "We need to improve in all areas. We have to have potentially better options from the sidelines. I think that's really key.
"I'm so enthusiastic about the way we played today. A lot of the stuff we did was really good. That's what inspires me to get up in the morning and fight for next season's title."
Goalkeeper Khiara Keating became the youngest-ever Golden Glove winner in her breakout season, as the 19-year-old kept nine clean sheets in 22 league games and conceded just 15 goals in total.
While disappointed about Saturday’s outcome, Keating looked back on the highlights of her season.
She said: "Obviously we are disappointed. We wanted to go out and win a trophy today. We knew what we had to do, and we didn't quite get it done.
"Hopefully next season in the Champions League we can show what we're about and go and win some trophies.
"From a personal point of view, my breakout season had a lot to prove at the start of the season, everyone was kind of.. Not doubting but wondering what I'd be like. I hope I've shown everyone what I can do.
"Gaz [Taylor] put his faith in me to go and play how I play and that is what I needed to go out there and do what I did this season."
Union Berlin survive Bundesliga relegation after stoppage-time winner against Freiburg
Union Berlin scored a stoppage-time winner against Freiburg to secure their Bundesliga safety, despite missing two penalties on a dramatic final day.
Marco Grote's side, who participated in the Champions League during the first half of this season under former coach Urs Fischer, occupied the relegation play-off spot heading into the final day of the campaign.
Just three points clear of 17th-place Koln, who travelled to Heidenheim, they welcomed Freiburg to Stadion An der Alten Forsterei, knowing a defeat could spell the end of their five-year stay in the German top flight.
Mainz, two points clear of Union in 15th, moved themselves out of the relegation picture with a commanding 3-1 win at Wolfsburg.
That meant one of Union, Bochum or Koln would join already relegated Darmstadt in the second tier. One would have to settle for a play-off place, while the other would survive.
Koln went down 4-1 at Heidenheim, while Bochum's defeat at Werder Bremen by the same scoreline meant Union could leapfrog them with victory over Freiburg.
The hosts, for whom Josip Juranovic missed a first-half penalty, broke the deadlock in the 68th minute through Benedict Hollerbach.
However, they looked set for a relegation play-off when Ritsu Doan equalised for the visitors with five minutes remaining, before substitute Kevin Volland struck the post with his spot-kick early in stoppage time.
Nevertheless, there was to be a dramatic late twist as Janik Haberer struck in the 92nd minute to catapult Union out of the bottom three and to safety in 15th place.
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