Despite a disappointing run of ten games without a win in all competitions, Stoke City remain ninth and six points off the play-offs ahead of this weekend.
All the more reason for Daniel Farke and his side to be hungry for three points on Saturday in a bid to prevent the Potters from closing the gap.
“The situation with Stoke shows how difficult this league is,” he said in his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon. “They've found it very hard to get points recently even though they have one of the most experienced sides in the Championship.”
“They were quite ambitious with their signings in January. They have potential to finish in the top six and we want to keep distance to them.
“It's such a tight, competitive league. We're in a great position but it's hard work and it will be tough tomorrow.
“It's normal for supporters to get carried away when your team is doing well. People have got used to us winning games at this level. We need to keep our feet on the ground.”
Following Brentford’s win at Reading earlier in the week, the Bees rose to the top of the Championship table, and Farke has little interest in his side being the chasers rather than the chased.
“We like to lead from the front,” he said. “There's no additional pressure of being at the top. Every game is difficult, I watched Barnsley v Chelsea last night and Barnsley could have won. In this league, you can't plan to win the title.
“We want to finish in the top six, we were clear with this. We are 15 points clear of seventh.
“I'd still rather us lead from the front. But we are not concerned. Just one thing counts, we know we need to get 80 points to finish in the top six, and then we'll be greedy to reach 90 points to finish in the top two."