Higgy hopes to build on first season

Stoke defender Danny Higginbotham rates last season as his best ever in the Premier League and reckons the upcoming one will be even better.

Higginbotham had enjoyed a decent season back in the top flight with Sunderland when Stoke took him back to the club last summer, but a year on and the 30-year-old certainly does not regret leaving the Stadium of Light.

The Potters are the fifth club Higginbotham has represented in the Premier League - he started at Manchester United and also played for Derby and Southampton - but he is in no doubt as to where his best experience has been.

"I've been in the Premier League with a few clubs but last season was the best because I've never been at a club where people have written us off so much," he told Potters, the club's official bi-monthly magazine.

"I went to Southampton when they were established in the Premier League and at Derby it was tough but because of what the media said about Stoke it made it all the more sweeter that we achieved so much.

"There were difficult times in the season but I don't think there was ever a time when we didn't believe we could achieve what we set out to do.

"We had a few bad results but we always kept our belief and I don't think we ever thought we weren't going to get through it."

Stoke are likely to be written off again in some quarters, with the term 'second season syndrome' already being bandied around, but Higginbotham is confident his manager Tony Pulis will ensure the Potters build on their success.

He added: "The manager knows exactly what to do next season, that's why he is here. He'll do the right thing. He'd done so well by organising the squad and bringing quality players in.

"We've had a great season but it's important that nobody rests on their laurels. It's back to square one. We start afresh next season and look to beat what we did last year."

You can read the full interview with Higginbotham in Issue 4 of Potters, on sale now.