Tony Pulis has used his latest interview with TEAMtalk's Insider Mark Holmes to thank Stoke's fans for their "fantastic" support this season.

Stoke have picked up 22 of their 25 Premier League points at the Britannia Stadium and that is down in no small part to the club's supporters who have been officially rated as the league's loudest.

The Potters' management and players have been quick to hail the impact the crowd has had on their results and Pulis admits he has been touched by the support for him and his players, describing it as his highlight of the season.

He said: "Someone asked me what one thing has stood out the most this season and I said the crowd. The best moments have been coming out at the Britannia and just listening to the noise of the crowd.

"We've had some great results against the likes of Arsenal, Villa and Liverpool and the biggest reason for that is how the fans have got behind the team, they've really driven the players on at our place.

"When Portsmouth scored that very fortuitous goal late on last Saturday you could have heard a pin drop and that sums them up this season. They were so excited and their disappointment was shown by the level of quietness.

"They've been absolutely fantastic all season and really got behind the players and the team, but we need them even more over the next six games. I don't know how they could do it but we need to raise the temperature even higher."

Pulis maintains it will be Stoke's home form that decides their fate this season but he does accept his side will have to improve on a record of just three points from 13 away games.

It will not be easy to do that on Sunday when Pulis takes his side to Aston Villa and the Welshman admits he could have done without Rory Delap and Matthew Etherington's suspensions.

Pulis is certainly not moaning, though, and believes the Potters' travelling support should look forward to another huge game for the club.

He said: "We've got to pick up a couple of results away from home but I still say it will be our home form that determines what we do.

"We can't keep relying on our home form, though, and the disappointing thing so far is that on quite a few occasions we've shot ourselves in the foot away from home. It hasn't been the other team that has beaten us, we've beaten ourselves.

"Now we've got Villa on Sunday that will be as difficult a game as we've played all year. They've got players in their team who can hurt you, they can counter-attack and they're very strong on set plays so it will be a tough game.

"But it's another great game for us as a football club and as a team. We're looking forward to it and it's only down the road at a place the club hasn't been for over 20 years so the supporters will really enjoy it too."

Martin O'Neill courted controversy by sending a virtual reserve side to Russia for his side's UEFA Cup clash with CKSA Moscow and Pulis joked he was one of those complaining about the Northern Irishman's decision.

However, he takes it as a compliment to his team and will warn his players they must be at the very top of their game if they are to get a result.

"I was one of those people ringing up complaining about Martin not taking his top team to Moscow," smiled Pulis. "But seriously I was not surprised. He's sent a message to everybody about how important he sees this game and they're going to be at full tilt on Sunday. It's up to us to stand up to that."