Stoke manager Tony Pulis believes his side are involved in a four-horse race for automatic promotion from the Championship.The Potters held off a stirring second-half fightback from Southampton to keep their bid for the Premiership on track with a 3-2 victory at the Britannia Stadium.

Liam Lawrence inspired City to a 3-0 half-time lead, with Darren Powell's own-goal as well as Ryan Shawcross and Mamady Sidibe's headers all coming from the midfielder's corners.

However, two goals in the first seven minutes of the second half from Stern John ensured the home support were forced to endure an unexpectedly uncomfortable second half.

West Brom's 0-0 draw with Sheffield United enabled Stoke to leapfrog the Baggies into third, with just three points now separating leaders Watford and fourth-placed Albion with 14 games to go.

With fifth-placed Charlton four points further back, Pulis expects the sides which finish in the top two to come from those four teams.

He said: "I just think it will be one of them, the teams that have all been there.

"The teams that go out there every game and perform, that give it a blast, the teams that will eventually push on."

With victory seemingly sewn up by half-time, the home side made hard work of what should have been a straightforward victory.

A defence which was solid in the first half suddenly became vulnerable as the visitors carved them open time after time in the first 20 minutes of the second half.

Pulis was keen to focus on the positives, however, and paid tribute to the character his side displayed in surviving the onslaught.

He added: "The first half I thought we played really, really well. It could have been more than three and in the second half they scored a goal without us touching the ball.

"It was all hands to the pump then. I thought Southampton played really well for 20 minutes then and really, really put us under some pressure.

"But if you analyse it, the last quarter of an hour we have had the best chances. Corty (Leon Cort) could have had another two and Rory (Delap) should have scored so that made it difficult."

John Gorman, the Saints manager "for the foreseeable future" along with Jason Dodd, felt his side were unfortunate to come away with nothing as their run of five consecutive draws away from home came to an end.

He said: "I felt we played well for 25 minutes of the first half. I thought we started off well. We had good possession and looked dangerous.

"We knew it would be a battle on the set plays - Rory Delap's throws are amazing. To be fair, Stoke had wonderful deliveries and put us under a lot of pressure.

"As men, we didn't withstand it. Maybe at half-time we should really have come in 1-0 down at the worst.

"We did have a go at them. We showed good character from the start of the second half - all the players were like men, winning the tackles and the second balls.

"We played magnificently, it was a wonderful effort that at least deserved a draw."

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