Coates firmly believes that getting out of the Championship is more difficult than staying in the top flight. He said: "With the parachute payments and the fan base that clubs tend to keep once they have experienced the Premier League, it has been as hard as can be getting out of the Championship.

And Coates of all people knows just how hard it was for the Potters to achieve promotion. Relegated from the then First Division in 1985, Stoke spent much of the last 23 years in the second tier of English football, with occasional visits to the third.

But thanks to a second place finish in the Championship last season, winning 21 matches and scoring 69 goals, the Potters' dreams of top-flight football came true. They left it late to guarantee promotion, a tense goalless draw against Leicester City on the final day of the season proving enough to finally bring the promotion party to the Britannia Stadium.

With a difficult season ahead of them, how does the club propose to deal with the challenges ahead?

Manager Tony Pulis certainly has the credentials to compete in the top-flight. He became one of the youngest ever players to obtain coaching qualifications, securing his FA coaching badge at just 19, followed two years later by his UEFA 'A' licence. In a managerial career that spans 16 years, Pulis maintains the proud record of never having suffered relegation. He will hope that is still intact come the end of this season.

And should he need any advice, he can always call on mentor Harry Redknapp. The Portsmouth manager appointed Pulis as his assistant while in charge of Bournemouth in 1992. And the Stoke man appears to have learned a lot from the experienced coach.

"I've worked with the cleverest manager who has ever lived, in Harry Redknapp," he said.

"Harry always used to say it's about good players. The better players you get, the better you play."

With a small squad, Pulis wants to add some new names before the curtain raiser against Bolton Wanderers on 16th August. The Welshman, known for his prudence in the transfer market, will aim to replicate the kind of buys that saw Redknapp's Portsmouth impress during their own Premier League debut in 2003/04. The free transfer of Teddy Sheringham and loan signings of Lomana LuaLua and Yakubu paid dividends as the trio combined brilliantly to help Pompey to a 13th place finish.

And having seen the effect of Portsmouth's strike force, Pulis has already set to work on improving his own, in signing Reading striker Dave Kitson. The £5.5million man will know all about the relegation battle that may well be waiting for Stoke, having experienced it all with the Royals last term. But with their record breaking transfer, the club are signalling their intent to compete in the top-flight.

But what of the existing squad? Can any of last term's Championship runners-up compete in England's elite league?

Pulis has some aces up his sleeve with a squad that boasts plenty of Premier League experience. Utility player Rory Delap returns to the highest tier with a chance to make up for lost time. The Irishman earned his top-flight stripes with Derby County before a spell at Southampton, where he endured relegation in 2005. After a season of second-tier football with Saints, he moved to Sunderland, making just 12 appearances in an injury hit spell. Shortly after joining Stoke on loan he suffered a horrific leg break while in action for the Potters, ironically against his parent club. After returning to fitness, Delap signed a permanent deal with Stoke, and played a pivotal role in their promotion push.

In goalkeeper Steve Simonsen, Pulis can rest easy, safe in the knowledge that the former Evertonian impressed consistently during the Potters' promotion campaign and will hope to repeat the form of his record breaking 2006/07 season, when he broke the club's consecutive clean sheets record with seven.

With strong leaders a key asset to any side hoping to impress in the Barclays Premier League, Stoke can call on the experience of their accomplished captain Andy Griffin. In his third spell at the club, the defender knows what it will take to keep them in the top flight, having also spent time with Newcastle United, Portsmouth and Derby.

Another voice in the dressing room is young defender Ryan Shawcross. The former Manchester United youngster has been praised for his ability to organise his senior colleagues and he will be out to prove a point when the Potters travel to Old Trafford in November. Like Shawcross, Leon Cort will be keen to impress in his first season. The defender, who boasts an excellent disciplinary record having not been booked in four seasons, scored eight goals in the second half of last season. Can his physical attributes help him impress on the big stage?

Last season's top scorer Ricardo Fuller will no doubt revel in finally hitting the big time, having been the Premier League's nearly man in the past. Tipped for big things, a knee injury prevented him from making much headway in his first top-flight season, with just one goal in 31 appearances for Portsmouth. He looks to have settled at Stoke, following a seven year spell where he moved clubs nine times. Perhaps an indicator of the Jamaica international's Premier League potential is the hat-trick he scored against Championship winners West Bromwich Albion last term.

Player of the Year Liam Lawrence has been in a relegation fight with Sunderland in 2005/06, and looks set to be a key player throughout Stoke's campaign. With the ability to create and score spectacular goals, the Irishman's determined style of play will serve the club well in the tough matches that lie ahead.

While the club looks likely to have a baptism of fire in the Barclays Premier League, they have proved they have the attributes to pull off a few surprises in the forthcoming campaign. And that, along with a 28,000 seater stadium worthy of top-flight football and an army of fans who have been deprived of top-flight action, means Stoke have the right to be confident of giving a good account of themselves as the 2008/09 season rapidly approaches.

Pulis will no doubt hope to replicate the form of past promoted club's who have succeeded in their first Premier League season.Premierleague.com analyses the factors that have been decisive in keeping clubs afloat. To read the article, click here.