Paul Lambert is planning on facing old club Norwich City in the Championship next season, despite failing to halt Stoke City's Premier League relegation slide.

The Potters beat fellow demoted rivals Swansea City 2-1 on Sunday, as both clubs bowed out of the top flight along with West Brom. Lambert believes he has the backing of Stoke owner Peter Coates to try and emulate his notable promotion success during his spell at the Canaries.

Lambert is adamant he can turn round Stoke's flagging fortunes in the long term, after inheriting a toxic dressing room when he was unveiled as Mark Hughes' replacement in January.

'The chairman said a couple of weeks ago I was (safe),' he said. 'Whether that remains, I'll wait and see. What happens next week, I don't know. Football's a great game for one day you're there, the next day you're away. But I couldn't have done any more. I gave it everything.

'I love the club. What a top football club it is. I would have paid to watch 'Delilah' at the end. The club has a great support behind it. My god, it was absolutely unbelievable.'

Stoke's final day win in Wales was only the second victory in 15 games under Lambert, who froze out a number of under-performing players in a bid to pull off a great escape.

'Listen, there was things going on that, if I let that away, my standing would drop,' he said. 'I was never going to have it. I'm too professional. I've been at big clubs myself, know how the game works, and that was unacceptable, what was going on.

'Massively unacceptable. My god, I've not seen anything like that.

'I'd have done it again. Because it was wrong. And if I'd never done it, I think the good guys at the club would have felt they didn't have much help. And anyone knows me knows that I'm fair, but my standards are high. But it is what it is.

'There's a core of good guys, the ones that have with me for the last few weeks or so.'

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