Stoke legend Terry Conroy has challenged the current stars to etch their names into club folklore by clinching a Premier League spot on Sunday.Just a point against relegation-threatened Leicester in front of a sell-out crowd at the Britannia Stadium will see the Potters return to the top flight after an agonising 23-year exile.
But Conroy - who along with George Eastham scored the goals that helped Stoke beat Chelsea 2-1 in the 1972 League Cup final - believes Tony Pulis' men are more than capable of going one better and pipping West Brom to the Championship title.
If Stoke better West Brom's result at QPR then the Staffordshire side will be crowned champions to cap what has already been a memorable campaign under the shrewd stewardship of Pulis.
Conroy insists "the big time" now beckons for Stoke.
"The Stoke players want to be champions and that's the carrot being dangled in front of them," said Conroy.
"If Stoke do it then that's great after the season they've had because nobody would have expected that we would end up as champions. But that's a possibility now and that's what everyone at the club is striving for - not just to win but to be champions.
"Tony Pulis has got the squad needed to clinch promotion and the title and if they do they will be rightly heralded as the players who brought the club back to the big time.
"I think the pressure on all of the sides at the top over the last month has been extreme and Stoke have come through that so to blow it at this stage would be catastrophic, but I can't see it."
With the unerring backing of millionaire owner Peter Coates, Pulis, who is in his second spell in charge, has masterminded an unlikely revival in the Potteries and wheeled and dealed effectively in the transfer market.
Over £2million was spent in January alone to sign defensive duo Leon Cort and Ryan Shawcross from Crystal Palace and Manchester United respectively and lure midfielder Glenn Whelan from Sheffield Wednesday.
The trio have all been influential in the push for promotion, but it is Liam Lawrence and Ricardo Fuller - also both signed by Pulis - who have been talismanic figures with 30 goals between them.
Conroy has paid tribute to the manner in which Pulis and Coates have steered the club to within 90 minutes of a top-flight return.
"I think the chairman has invested in the club heavily and any time the manager has asked anything it has been granted," added Conroy, who made over 300 appearances in 12 years at Stoke.
"I think the manager has done a phenomenal job because I think he's brought the right type of player in, as has been proven.
"The spirit within the squad is very, very strong and that's down to the manager,
"It's a great effort by the manager, chairman and credit to the players because they're the ones who have brought the club to this stage. It's an all-round success story really."
The Foxes make the short trip to Stoke well aware failure to pick up maximum points could see them slip into League One and Conroy insists all the pressure is on Ian Holloway's side.
"Obviously Sunday's game has double connotations because of the Leicester situation," said Conroy.
"I think there's more pressure on Leicester than there is on Stoke as they've got to get a result to survive.
They've got to win.
"It's tailor-made for Stoke because we're at home, playing in front of a crowd of 28,000, and if we win or draw there's no doubt we'll be in the Premier League."
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