Andy Wilkinson is the latest Stoke player to answer TEAMtalk's Top 10 in a quickfire interview with our Insider at The Britannia, Mark Holmes.

Mark has caught up with the majority of Stoke's stars this season but there are still a few yet to dish the dirt on their team-mates, and just two months to get hold of them.

First up is local lad Wilkinson, who has finally established himself as a key member of the side in recent months after a number of years on the fringes.

The lifelong Stoke supporter joined the club's youth set-up as a 16-year-old in 2000 and made his first-team debut just over a year later under Gudjon Thordarson as a substitute in a 3-2 LDV Vans Trophy defeat at Blackpool.

Injuries meant he did not feature at all in the 2002/03 season but he got his career up and running again at the start of the following campaign when Tony Pulis handed him a full 90 minutes in the 2-1 League Cup win over Rochdale at the Britannia Stadium.

However, Pulis soon decided the youngster would be better building up his first-team experience away from the club and he was sent out on an initial month's loan to Conference side Telford.

Wilkinson made an instant impression with the non-leaguers and his stay at The Bucks Head was soon extended as he went on to make nine appearances, including one in an FA Cup giant-killing win over Brentford in a game that saw another Potter - Ibrahima Sonko - sent off.

Wilkinson returned to Stoke in January and soon made his first league appearance as a late substitute in a Championship victory over Walsall. He made his second in March at Norwich before being handed his first ever league start on the final day of the 2003/04 season. Pulis fielded a virtual youth side against already-promoted West Brom and Wilkinson played the entire 90 minutes in a 4-1 thrashing of the Baggies.

However, any hopes of breaking into the Potters first-team were soon blown away at the start of the 04/05 campaign as Pulis again sent the defender out on loan, this time to Partick in Scotland's Division One.

Wilkinson further enhanced his growing reputation in 17 appearances for Thistle but, after one fleeting substitute appearance back at Stoke, was soon on the move again, this time to League Two Shrewsbury.

He made nine appearances with the Gay Meadow side but, despite the summer departure of Pulis, again found his opportunities limited back at the Britannia under new boss Johan Boskamp for the 05/06 campaign. Then, after he was finally handed a start in a defeat at Southampton in October, he was cruelly ruled out for the best part of four months with tendinitis in his knee.

He returned in March to make another three appearances but then suffered another injury, this time ankle ligament damage, that ruled him out for the remainder of the season.

Wilkinson recovered to find Boskamp gone and Pulis back in charge so it was no surprise to see him loaned out again, this time to League One Blackpool, in November 2006.

He was back at Stoke by January and went on to make five appearances over the next two months but he had made such an impression with the Seasiders that in the summer of 2007 they made a bid to sign him permanently following their promotion to the Championship. A £200,000 move looked all set to go through at one point but Pulis decided he wanted the defender to remain at the club and blocked the transfer.

And for Wilkinson the next season was a dream come true. He finally got handed an extended run in the first team - he made 25 appearances - and his hometown club were promoted to the Premier League for the very first time.

The summer capture of Andrew Davies may have had the 24-year-old worried but he has seen off the challenge of the former Middlesbrough man, as well as Andrew Griffin and on-loan Stephen Kelly, to establish himself as the club's first-choice right-back.

He started games against big guns Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea and has grown in stature so much in recent months that he is now considered an automatic choice in a greatly improved defence.

Wilkinson is likely to keep his place for Saturday's game at Middlesbrough and fans can once again expect plenty of passion from the Yarnfield-born star.

Here are his answers to TEAMtalk's Top 10:

What club did you support growing up? i think everyone knows I'm a Stoke fan. It was my friends from school that got me into them really, I'd come down to games with them, got into them, and it just went from there.

What's been the highlight of your career so far? Obviously playing in the Premier League has to be the highlight because that's what I've always dreamed of. The promotion was up there too. I got injured on the last day, but at least I was part of the team...and definitely the celebrations later on!

Who have been the biggest influences on your career and have you got or had any heroes in life? There's been loads of influences to be honest. The gaffer has been one of the main ones but also Ian Cranson, Dave Kevan (former Stoke coaches) and Steve Potts who was one of my managers at Stone Dominoes when I was younger. Then there's my dad and family who were massive for me as well.

I've got to say Cranny was a bit of a hero for me when I was younger but Jaap Stam was a big one for me as well. He was a big influence really, watching him play at the highest level.

What are your aims with Stoke City and what is your ultimate ambition in football? This is where I want to be playing my football so my ultimate ambition would just be to spend the rest of my career playing at the top level with Stoke.

If you weren't a footballer then what would you be? I've thought about this a lot over the years and wondered what I'd be doing but I honestly don't know. It would probably be something in sport, though, because I couldn't be sitting in an office all day!

Who is the best player you've ever played with and who's the best player you've ever played against? Abdoulaye Faye has got to be up there with the best I've ever played with but it's hard to pick the best who I've played with against because there's been Ronaldo, Gerrard and Lampard. Although I kept Ronaldo quiet until I got sent off!

Who do you rate as the best player in the world today and who's the best in your position? I'm trying to think of someone other than Ronaldo...We'll go with Messi I think because there's no way I'm saying Ronaldo! The best right-back? My mind's gone blank....me! Or I suppose Cafu, back in the day mind.

Who's the worst dressed player in the Stoke squad? Easy, Steve Simonsen. I've got one word for him - horrendous!

Who's the hardest player in the squad? I'd say Abdoulaye's up there for this one as well, I wouldn't want to mess with him on a dark night. Although there's me and Dicko, the tag team!

Who's the biggest prankster at Stoke and what's the best prank you've ever played or had played on you? The biggest prankster is either Liam (Lawrence) or Andy Griffin but you don't want to know what they've got up to! I've played a fair few pranks myself to be fair but I don't want to give them away now because then they'll know it was me!

I've had my socks cut up a few times but not many have stitched me up really and I want to keep it that way. The one who gets it most is Liam probably, but that's just because he plays the most on everyone else!