Stoke boss Gary Rowett hailed keeper Jack Butland after his spectacular late save secured a 1-0 win over Bristol City at Ashton Gate.
Bristol-born England keeper Butland produced a brilliant display capped by a full-length dive to his left to keep out a Niclas Eliasson shot three minutes from time.
Butland had also performed heroics to scoop away Jamie Paterson’s 72nd-minute strike from distance, leaving Bristol with nothing to show for their second-half dominance.
Manager Rowett said: “Jack had a lot of family and friends in the crowd. If it makes him play like that, I’ll get him 20 tickets for every game and lay on a coach for them!
“You won’t see a more outstanding goalkeeping display.
“I have worked with Jack and Jordan Pickford and Jack has all the attributes Jordan possesses.
“We rode our luck at times and had to put bodies on the line. But we were the better side in the first half and deserved to go in front.
“For 45 minutes we played really well. Then we showed the necessary grit when Bristol changed things and put us under pressure.
“Now we are five points off the play-offs and we haven’t played to our best yet. It’s where we are come April that matters to me.
“There have been plenty of encouraging signs from recent away games and I’m happy with how we are progressing.”
Stoke began impressively and took a 34th-minute lead when Darren Fletcher latched onto a Joe Allen header inside the box, controlled the ball on his chest and lashed a volley past Max O’Leary.
Fletcher had to be substituted with a dead leg on 41 minutes and was missed as Bristol responded to two half-time changes by head coach Lee Johnson and went on to apply incessant pressure.
It was not the hosts’ day as Famara Diedhiou hit the bar twice and they failed to find a finish to match some slick approach play.
Johnson said: “I’m very frustrated. Part of me wants to say how well we played in the second half, but history won’t remember that.
“The ball just wouldn’t go in for us. Butland has made some unbelievable saves, but the quality of our finishing could have been better.
“Sometimes players just need to put their foot through the ball when scoring chances come along. We weren’t quite brave enough in the opposition box at times.
“We took too long to get going and I made two changes at half-time because we were not getting anything from our left side.
“The substitutes have played really well and there were a lot of positives, which I will see when I review the game. But at the moment I can’t be too upbeat.
“The Championship can be cruel at times and we just have to put this result behind us as quickly as possible.”
