Ahead of Wednesday night's trip to the Potteries, midfielder Romal Palmer spoke to the assembled press to help preview the fixture.
The 22-year-old midfielder made a return to the starting XI at the weekend in the 2-2 draw with Bristol City at Oakwell.
A knock had ruled him out of contention since the Luton Town fixture, but he got the nod against the Robins and believes he's in a good place as he looks to secure a regular starting place for the Reds.
“Very pleasing for myself.” Romal began.
“I think I did alright. I’ve come a long way, through the academy system so it’s a special feeling.
“Mentally I’m on top of my game, I just need to stay fit. It’s part and parcel of football picking up knocks but I look forward at all times. There’s no point looking back.
“It’s about staying in the first team for me now, kicking on, making my mark at this level.”
With two more midfielders added to the squad on last week's deadline day, Romal knows he is going to have to keep fighting hard for his position.
But he welcomes the challenge, as he explained to us this morning.
He said: “There’s a lot of quality and experience been brought in, with Matty James arriving, Herbie (Kane) has had a lot of games for his age and of course, Isaac (Christie-Davies) joined a bit earlier. But I see that as healthy competition.
“I believe in my own talent, I’m in a good place mentally to tackle everything.
“It took me a while to get into the first team but I’m obviously a good example of never giving up, and like others before me, I’ve prospered in the youth setup to finally get here today.
“I intend to kick on, cement my place now.”
In terms of Wednesday evening and a second trip to the bet365 Stadium in a matter of months, Palmer appreciates it's going to be another tough test for Adam Murray's side but reckons the performance last weekend against the league leaders, shows there's no fear in this 20/21 squad.
“Stoke are very physical, there are a lot of good players in their squad. But there was on Saturday as well and I think we deserved more from that one.
“We’ll go there tomorrow night and with our gameplan we can hopefully get off the mark with a big win.
“It’s about going into every game, certainly under Adam (Murray) expecting to win. We won’t be looking for anything else.”
