Captain Karl Henry returns to the Britannia Stadium admitting he is much more of a Tony Pulis player at Wolves than he ever was at Stoke.

The midfielder was back to his snarling best in the 1-1 draw against Fulham on Saturday and has predicted another no-holds-barred clash in tonight’s Staffordshire derby.

Skipper Henry returns to his first club full of respect for Pulis, the man who sold him for a bargain £100,000 five years ago.

But almost 200 appearances in gold and black have seen the Wolverhampton-born battler transform himself from ball-player to ball-winner.

He said: “I wasn’t his type of player when he came. Maybe back then I think I didn’t put my foot in as much and maybe wasn’t as much of a winner.

“I just came out of the youth team, but as happens at a lot of places, there comes a time when you need to move on or maybe find yourself.”

Henry joked: “I think I could do a job for him now! I’m a bit older and wiser and I maybe know what he wants.

“But I was only a young lad when he came and things didn’t really work out for me there.

“I hold no grudges – he’s done fantastically well there and he was always a top man with me as a person so fair play to him.”

Henry reckons every team hates playing Stoke – but insists Wolves will love it.

He said:“They’re a tough side and everyone hates playing against Stoke and hates going there but we’ll relish it.

“There’s a similar perception about them as there is about us, it seems, but both are unfair.

“But it’s still going to be a really dirty, ugly game – both teams will be kicking lumps out of each other.”

Stoke are virtually guaranteed safety, but after conceding a late equaliser on Saturday, Henry admits Wolves are at the stage where they must play every game as if their lives depend on it.

He said: “We have and I thought we did on Saturday. A goal going in at any moment doesn’t mean the team weren’t concentrating or we weren’t ‘revved up’ enough or we didn’t want it enough.

“I thought we were all ‘at it’ on Saturday but it wasn’t to be. We’ve got five games left and we’ve got to show some character, show our mettle and show that we want to stay in this league.

“We conceded another late goal in a season where we’ve conceded late goals eight or nine times.

“They have cost us a lot of points and it’s something we’ve got to look at and sort out.”

While safety is very much on Wolves’ minds, Stoke have another ‘s’ on theirs.

And Henry hopes the Potters are more focused on the silverware at stake in their first FA Cup final against Manchester City next month, rather than three points tonight.

He said: “There’s every chance that they might have one eye on the cup. They got a point on Saturday at Villa and I’m sure they’re safe now, so they’re not worried about relegation.

“Hopefully they’re a bit more relaxed and we can go there and nick three points.”

That will be difficult with Pulis at the helm – something Henry knows only too well.

The Wolves captain has nothing but admiration for the achievements of his old club and their manager.

He said: “Stoke are a good side – Tony Pulis has done excellently there.

“He sticks to his principles and his strategy regardless of what’s going on and he’s done so well.

“He’s got them to the FA Cup final now and they’re doing well in the league.”

Henry is so full of admiration for Pulis that he thinks the Stoke boss is a candidate for Manager of the Year.

The midfielder said: “I think so – maybe people are starting to give Tony Pulis the respect he deserves.

“It’s not easy to win football matches and people have been trying to come up with methods and theories of how to do it.

“Barcelona do it their way, Blackpool do it their way and Stoke do it their way. Stoke are horrible to play against but they get points.

“Tony has done a fantastic job and I’m sure they will go on to an even better finish next season.”