Jo, the Brazilian striker, and defender Joleon Lescott had given Everton a comfortable half-time lead, but after Ryan Shawcross had pulled one back after the break, Stoke battled hard for a point before Marouane Fellaini got Everton's third in injury-time.

Pulis was unhappy with his side's lack of belief before the interval but believed their spirit gave them a fighting chance after the break.

He said: "It was disappointing, we didn't throw any punches until the second half, we did not take the game to them and looked laboured, that's the nicest way to put it.

"But after the break we showed a lot more spirit, the goal helped and we made them nervous.

"We had chances and could have scored again. But we cannot wait until we are 2-0 down every game before we start to fight back.

"We know we are now in the bottom three, but survival is in our own hands.

"If we can win an away game somewhere, it will take a lot of pressure off everyone. I believe we have to win one away from home minimum."

He added: "We have shown we have spirit. But winning games now is vital, we have four away and five at home left.

"We must win away, we are pretty decent when it comes to home games, but that will not be enough now, we cannot go through a season without an away win and expect to stay up.

"I am happy with the second-half response, but not the first period. Our level of performance at home compared to away is the worry.

"When we roll our sleeves up and start throwing punches ourselves, we are not a bad team.

"I am not worried what other teams do, we are in control of our own destiny, and that is the only thing you can have an effect on.

"We cannot worry about what others do, just look after ourselves and that is the only way we will survive."

Everton boss David Moyes conceded there could have been some complacency after the break, with Everton cruising and two goals ahead.

He said: "It was a strange game and we were in a comfortable situation at the break. But we knew that the first goal after that would dictate the way the game went.

"Stoke started brighter after the break and came out strongly. For 30 minutes they put us under a lot of pressure.

"Maybe there was some complacency in that second half, but we should know it was going to be difficult. Every team we have played who are down at the bottom have made life difficult for us.

"Stoke improved and we had to hang in there. The teams at the bottom have so much to play for, we have faced Blackburn, West Brom and Newcastle at home and they have all been difficult and not very pretty to watch."

Everton maintained their sixth place, but Moyes added: "We are not in a great rhythm or playing in a manner we really like. We started well enough and looked as if we were going to add a few more.

"We were instead under a lot of pressure, although we did catch them on the break a lot and made some good chances.

"We have nine games left, if we are going to challenge the teams above us we are going to have to win the majority of our final nine games."