Stoke manager Paul Lambert is confident his team will avoid relegation from the Premier League if they maintain their current standards.

The Potters remain in the bottom three and one point from safety, although their goal difference is considerably inferior to all of their rivals, after Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Leicester.

So tight is the bottom end of the table, that when Stoke led at the King Power Stadium through Xherdan Shaqiri’s goal they were provisionally as high as 15th in the standings.

However, Jack Butland’s own goal meant it was just one point instead of three for Lambert’s side and they stayed 19th.

Lambert has won one and drawn three of his five games in charge and the Scot believes Stoke are playing well enough to stay up.

“It’s frustrating not to get three points but I could say the same against Brighton and Bournemouth,” he said.

“Since we came in we’ve only won one game but we’ve always been in games, which is important for us, to compete. We need a bit of a break, like every other team, but if we keep playing the way we are then we’ll certainly climb the table.

“The good thing for me is we are playing ever so well. We’ve only been beaten once since I came in and we’ve had some really hard games.

“Performance-wise we can match anyone in the division and with a little bit of a break we will certainly win games. Anybody coming to our games in the last few weeks would see Stoke City as a good side.”

Leicester are now without a Premier League victory since winning 2-0 at home to Watford on January 20.

Claude Puel’s side host Bournemouth next weekend and the Foxes boss wants a return to winning ways.

“We need to win our next game because we draw at home to Swansea as well and lose at Manchester City and Everton, this is not enough,” said Puel.

“We need to play with this team with more character and personality but keep the intensity and find a solution.

“Of course, the role of the opponent is to kill time and play slow. Teams come here and defend with a good defensive unit and play on the counter attack and we need to find solutions against these teams.”