The Mali international doubled his season's tally with a first-half brace, but his day ended badly when he suffered suspected ankle ligament damage.

Sidibe's goals put Stoke back into the automatic promotion places and Pulis is desperate for him to be fit for next Saturday's trip to Colchester.

"Mama plays a massive part in the way we play - he gets some stick because he doesn't score that many goals, but he brings so much more to the plate," Pulis said.

"He suffers with a lack of confidence at times and we have to keep encouraging him. I was delighted to see him score a couple and we can only hope the injury isn't serious.

"He will have a scan on Monday and it is no use guessing if he will be okay for Colchester or not. We will have to hope for the best and wait and see."

Stoke's fate is now in their own hands and they will be promoted to the top flight for the first time in 23 years if they beat Colchester and Leicester in their last two games.

But Pulis warned: "There have been so may twists and turns that there is no chance of us taking anything for granted. They will be two tough games and we will have to be at our best two win.

"But the players are focused and concentrated. They showed they could handle the pressure with a terrific performance and the spirit in the group is tremendous.

"The crowd were also immense for us. The fans created an incredible atmosphere and kept the lads going after Bristol got back into it."

Sidibe and fellow strike partner Ricardo Fuller were proved tough customers for the visitors defence and it was the former who opened the scoring in the 14th minute.

Liam Lawrence curled a free-kick to the far post where Sidibe rose to power a header into the roof of the net.

The Potters then added their second nine minutes before the interval when Fuller turned his man to send Sidibe clear and he steadied himself before placing a low shot beyond the unguarded Adriano Basso.

The game then turned dramatically in the 67th minute after Michael McIndoe whipped over a left wing corner for Dele Adebola to muscle his way into pole position and steer a header inside Carlo Nash's left hand post.

Bristol laid siege to the Stoke goal for the next 10 minutes and Ryan Shawcross and Carl Dickinson made desperate goal line clearances from Bradley Orr and Adebola.

But Stoke regained their composure in the later stages and were full value for the three points.

Bristol boss Gary Johnson admitted it now looks like the play-offs for his team.

He said: "We were dire in the first-half and three or four of the players froze. I have to give Stoke credit for the pressure they put on us, but we could have handled it better.

"We did have a go in the second-half and at least we made them feel as though there were two teams on the pitch.

"We were unfortunate to have a couple cleared off the line and I thought there might be a handball in there, but I suppose I'm clutching at straws.

"Some people are naturally disappointed because it looks as though automatic promotion is unlikely, but they should not lose sight of the fact that we've had a fantastic season so far.

"What we must do now is make sure we are at least in the play-offs and then give it our best shot if that is the case."