Dawson delighted to be back

Michael Dawson loved being back in the thick of the action at Stoke.

The skipper returned after injury for his first start since damaging his hamstring at Chelsea on March 8.

And he led from the front as we held firm under late pressure from a typically spirited Stoke side for a 1-0 victory at the Britannia thanks to Danny Rose's thumping header in the first half.

"It was great just to be back in amongst it with the lads, back training again on a daily basis and playing again," said Michael.

"It’s a lonely place in that gym but you’ve got to do it and it stands you in good stead to get back out there and put in the performances.

"I loved leading the boys to a clean sheet and a victory and now we’ve two games to go, we look forward to them.

"The lads have been on a good run - the win against Sunderland, West Brom (3-3) we would have liked to have won, beating Fulham and to go to Stoke and win is a big achievement.

"We keep going, two games to go, six points to play for and hopefully we’ll get them."