Stephen Ward has claimed Wolves’ recent history against Stoke means they can cope with whatever is thrown at them by the Potters.

Mick McCarthy’s side go to the Britannia Stadium tonight knowing a point will drag themselves out of the bottom three against the FA Cup finalists.

Wolves have lost just one out of the seven league encounters between the clubs since McCarthy arrived at the club almost five years ago and Ward believes it helps them knowing what’s to come.

He said: “I think we’ve shown in the last couple of years when we’ve played them that we can deal with their strengths, but we’ll have to be on our game against them.”

Stoke showed a different side to their renowned uncompromising side in the FA Cup semi-final, when they thrashed Bolton 5-0 at Wembley with some freer flowing football and cracking goals.

But, after withstanding Fulham’s stylish brand of football for long spells in Saturday’s 1-1 draw, Ward reckons Wolves can deal with whatever is thrown at them this evening.

He said: “We know what to expect at Stoke. It’s one of the hardest places to go but we have the players here who can deal with that.

“They showed in the FA Cup semi-final that they can play some lovely football as well, so we will have to keep our chins up and go there with the confidence to get something.”

Ward insisted Wolves are back on the right track after ended successive heavy defeats with a point against Fulham.

He said: “Getting a point off them is a step in the right direction. We’re a point better off than we were so let’s go to Stoke and put in a good performance, take something from that game and push on in the last four games.

“Over the last couple of weeks the gaffer has worked on us being more solid and I think we were that against Fulham.”

The Fulham game saw Ward return to the team at left-back for the first time since the 3-0 defeat to Liverpool on January 22.

After playing left-back, left midfield, striker and even central midfield this season, Ward explained the secret of his adaptability – not to think too much.

He said: “If you work hard and concentrate on your game, it’s just about your mentality. You can’t over-think things too much – you just have to be confident in yourself.

“Obviously your mentality changes from being an attacker to a defender. You have to sit back a bit more and, against Fulham, I was quite wary of that.

“I didn’t want to be overlapping and giving myself too much to do. I just wanted to make sure I was playing within the back four, so I played from left-back rather than overdoing it and I thought we did that as a back four.

“I’ve played a lot of games this season in different positions but, as long as I’m doing a job for the team, that’s all that matters.”