Steven Schumacher is challenging his Stoke City players to dig out another big result on Easter Monday against Huddersfield to back up their Good Friday win at Hull and “ease the pressure” in a frenetic Championship battle.

A 2-0 win at Hull lifted Stoke up to 17th and five points above Birmingham, Huddersfield and Sheffield Wednesday, with the latter two in the bottom three. Birmingham are at home to Preston this afternoon while Wednesday are away at Middlesbrough.

There are seven games remaining and the idea of an eight-point gap with six to go is all the motivation needed as Stoke go back to the bet365 Stadium.

“We have to deliver again,” said Schumacher. “It’s a huge game against a team who are a rival, in and around us in the league. We have to get to that standard again.

“A few times since we’ve been here I’ve felt as if we’ve played well and then not got a result in the next game or haven’t performed to the way we needed to.

“Showing some consistency is key now. If we can back it up with another good performance and a big result then that will ease the pressure.”

Stoke have taken nine points out of 15 available since falling into the drop zone in late February and now head into a home double header, with West Bromwich Albion to follow at headquarters at the weekend.

It is no secret that Stoke desperately need to improve their record in front of their own fans in the short and long-term but the last month has given the club a big chance of securing their status in the division for next season.

Schumacher said: “That’s three wins out of five so that’s ok for a team who are in the bottom half of the division and we don’t want to be there. We’ll just keep going, trying to put in the performances that are going to get us the points that we need.”

Stoke have been assessing Enda Stevens over the weekend after the veteran left-back played 90 minutes in his first appearance since early December but Mehdi Leris should be fine after limping out of an impressive return. Wouter Burger is available following a two-game suspension.