A look back at the last time the Robins made the long journey to the Britannia Stadium.

Stoke City 1 (Gunnarsson 88) Bristol City 0 (27/10/2001)

City left it late again, but when Brynjar Gunnarsson turned to hit a crisp right foot shot into the Bristol net with just two minutes of normal time remaining, nobody could dispute the justice of the result.

The win takes City above their opponents into third place in Division 2, and extends their unbeaten run to an impressive seven league games, which have brought nineteen points out of a possible twenty-one.

This was a big occasion in every sense for Stoke. The unveiling of the Stanley Matthews statue, the presence of several celebrities, the biggest crowd of the season and promotion rivals for opponents all contributed to an expectant and electrifying atmosphere in the ground.

There were even stirring renditions of "Delilah" and "Nessun Dorma" to build up the air of expectancy. Not so long ago, fans might have feared that all the ingredients of an anti-climax were in place. Not now.

This team appears, touch wood, to have put the Britannia bogey well and truly behind them. They again showed their determination to keep playing football to the end, and are not displaying the frustration and lack of ideas that has plagued previous teams since the move from the Victoria Ground.

Gudjon Thordarson stuck with the starting eleven from the Chesterfield match, again choosing Chris Iwelumo to give the attack extra height. The tall striker responded with a good performance as City went straight into the attack from the kick-off.

They picked up where they had left off against Chesterfield, but against much better opponents. The visitors signalled their respect for the home side by their selection. Playing three centre-backs and two wing-backs, they also had defender Louis Carey in midfield.

The wing-backs soon realised that they would not be given any opportunities to venture up-field and the central defenders were kept busy in the early stages as the home side strung together a succession of good moves.

Peter Hoekstra's movement, control and vision were instrumental in setting up several chances to notch the important early goal. Unfortunately, it never came, with Hoekstra himself failing to find the target from a Jurgen Vandeurzen cross, Siarhei Shtaniuk heading just wide and Iwelumo ruled just off-side after putting the ball into the net.

Bristol were reduced to hopeful clearances up-field to try to counter the pressure, and could make no impression on the Potters defence with the City midfield in total command. James O'Connor was again in all-action mode, whilst Vandeurzen was making good progress down the left, where he was assisted by the impressive Clive Clarke in some threatening moves.

Gunnarsson was also in no mood to surrender the initiative, and just before half-time might have scored when he met one of many right-wing crosses but could not keep the header down.

Bristol went into the interval relieved to have survived, and it was now a question of whether City could maintain the quality of their passing and put an end-product to it.

For a few minutes at the start of the second-half, City's touch did desert them, but although the defence was busier than it had been, Neil Cutler was not called into decisive action, and the home side soon began to move forward purposefully again. Iwelumo had a header deflected for a corner and Wayne Thomas tried a low twenty-yarder which Mike Stowell had to tip round the post.

A string of crosses rained down on the visitors' box, but to Bristol's credit their defence performed manfully to repel the attacks. As time ebbed away, Karl Henry, Lewis Neal and Andy Cooke were introduced and it was Henry who provided the right-wing cross which Shtaniuk headed down for Gunnarssson to turn and shoot the winner from ten yards.

Cooke then almost added another before Bristol, at last forced to venture forward in force, created their best and last chance when substitute Tom Doherty volleyed wide. There was just enough time left for Scott Murray to be booked for diving in the penalty area, collecting a second yellow card and a dismissal.

Critics might say that Potters left it late again, but the ability to score late goals is a strength rather than a weakness. How many games did the great Liverpool and Manchester Utd sides win in the final minutes?

There is no doubting the fact that City could have scored more than the one goal which was to prove decisive, but today's opponents were a cut above the likes of Chesterfield, and the fact that the visitors rarely made a menacing move is all credit to Stoke.

The football being played is streets ahead of the ordinary fare served up two or three seasons ago. Patience is having its reward and the intention to play constructive football was personified by Clarke, who was always trying to build attacks rather than thump the ball forward regardless.

The question is, "Will one goal continue to be enough against all teams, or will the score start to reflect City's play?" Only time will tell, but there can be no doubts about the quality of the approach play and the will to keep going until the final whistle.