Stoke City No2 Dave Kemp admits the arrival of Michael Owen has opened people's eyes about the club's transformation.

He acknowledged Stoke now had a squad unrecognisable from the recent past after adding the likes of Owen to the mix.

"People tend to forget how far we have come," he told The Sentinel. "Remember when no-one thought we would get promoted, then no-one thought we would stay up?

"Trying to improve takes longer than five minutes, but hopefully people are starting to see the improvement."