Tony Pulis has described the Premier League as "relentless" following a poor run of form from Stoke City.
The Potters have lost four of their last five games in the league, leaving them just four points clear of the relegation zone.
The manager told the club's website: "There is no hiding from the fact that results have been disappointing of late, but the one thing this run has done is brought it home to everybody that this league is relentless. It doesn't curry any favours to anybody.
"If you're not on it, you get punished, and we're no different to anybody else. We're in this position because we haven't taken our chances when we should have and you can't keep doing that or you suffer the consequences.
"40 points has always been our initial target, and I maintain that we need to get to that target, despite other managers saying it may not need that many. So we need at least six points from seven games."
Stoke face Aston Villa at the Britannia Stadium tomorrow.
Sian Cowper
