City's promotion push remained firmly on track after outclassing promotion rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on Saturday afternoon.
Goals from Rory Delap, Liam Lawrence, Leon Cort and Ricardo Fuller secured a memorable 4-2 win over the Potters Staffordshire rivals, as they closed the gap on the top two places.
Tony Pulis' side are now eight points clear of seventh place Crystal Palace and just one point behind West Brom who occupy the second automatic promotion spot.
The City boss was forced in to three changes ahead of the match, with both Andy Griffin and Richard Cresswell missing out through suspension.
Leading scorer Fuller was also deemed to be suffering from jet lag after flying half way around the world to represent his country in the friendly against Costa Rica on Wednesday.
Deadline day signings Glenn Whelan and Paul Gallagher were handed their first starts for the club, while on loan Fulham defender Gabriel Zakuani made his first league start of the year.
Mick McCarthy's side were also without several key players, with Michael Kightly, Gary Breen and former Potters loanee Jody Craddock all on the sidelines.
The Potters sold out their entire allocation in the Steve Bull Stand, and within just four minutes of the game kicking off they were celebrating the first goal of the afternoon.
The hard working Mamady Sidibe capitalised on Rob Edwards poor back pass and rounded keeper Wayne Hennessey, before dinking in a lovely ball for Delap to nod in to an empty net.
The hosts immediately set about levelling the scoreline though, and only a combination of Ryan Shawcross and Cort thwarted Sylvain Ebanks-Blake inside the 18-yard box.
Club record signing Cort should have doubled City's advantage in the 15th minute, but he somehow headed over Liam Lawrence's teasing corner from just 6-yards.
Dave Edwards went close shortly after for the hosts but he fired wide following good work from Ebanks-Blake.
Pulis was fuming mid way through the first half when referee Andre Marriner failed to award his side a spot kick after Gallagher looked to have been pulled down inside the penalty area.
Former Sheffield Wednesday man Whelan sent an audacious 30-yard effort inches above the bar, before Ebanks-Blake fired over from just 6-yards with the goal at his mercy.
Wolves winger Matt Jarvis was causing City problems down the left flank, and when his shot was palmed in to the path of Kevin Kyle it should have really been one apiece.
However, he miss-controlled the ball and then somehow dragged his shot straight at Delap, who cleared the ball off the line and away from danger.
Ex Manchester United youngster Ebanks-Blake again went close for the hosts as did the influential Lawrence, whose 30-yard strike stung the palms of Hennessey.
With just seconds of the first half remaining Edwards made it 1-1 by tapping the ball home from just 3-yards after City failed to clear their lines following Andy Keogh's centre.
Just two minutes in to the second half Wolves turned the game on its head. Republic of Ireland Under 21 international Keogh neatly tucked the ball past Steve Simonsen and into the back of the net after Ebanks-Blake held off the challenge of Cort.
Their lead was short lived however as Lawrence latched on to Whelan's clever through ball and brilliantly fired in to the top left hand corner, for his tenth goal of the season.
Another moment of magic from the former Sunderland man almost led to City taking the lead in the 60th minute, but no one was on hand to divert his cross in to the back of the net.
Fuller was introduced in the 64th minute at the expense of Gallagher, and he was immediately at the forefront of the action.
The Jamaican international used his pace to burst down the right wing, before cutting inside only for Michael Gray to divert the ball out for a corner kick.
Both side's continued to push forward as the game wore on, and it was City who would take the lead for the second time.
Sidibe rose highest from Lawrence's corner and powered a header against the crossbar, but before the Wolves defence had time to clear the danger, Cort slid in at the back post and flicked the ball home to send the two and a half thousand City Potters supporters wild.
The energetic Fuller then secured all three points in the dying seconds as he ran the length of the pitch, holding off two defenders, before drilling the ball in to the bottom corner, just seconds after the hosts were turned down a penalty.
The home fans swarmed out of the stadium shortly after, while the City faithful were in full voice as they deservedly took the applause of the players after the full time whistle.
