Saturday 5 May 2018 11:30, UK
Peter Crouch admits he will have to consider his future at Stoke if they are relegated from the Premier League this season.
The 37-year-old signed a one-year extension in November that ties him to the club until 2019.
However, with Stoke facing an uphill battle to stay in the top-flight, he told Sky Sports: "It's a difficult one. I signed for another year because I thought we would be in the Premier League, it didn't even enter my head that we wouldn't be.
"We have to take stock in the summer and we have to address what has gone on this season because we have been nowhere near it. From a personal point of view, it would be a real shame to leave this club. For me, it's about playing these two games and everything else will take care of itself in the summer."
Stoke are three points from safety with two matches left to play - at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday, live on Sky Sports, and then at Swansea on the final day.
Crouch thinks they have to win both matches to have any chance of staying up, and says there have been encouraging signs, including their 0-0 draw at Anfield last weekend.
"It was a massive point. Not many teams have gone to Anfield this season and kept a clean sheet and got a positive result. We showed a lot of fight and character and it was important to get a result, be it a draw or a win. We are still in with a fight.
"Since the manager [Paul Lambert] has come in we have been more solid, we were shipping goals at a ridiculous rate and we were down there because we deserved to be down there, we haven't been good enough.
"Although we haven't quite got the wins we needed there seems to be more fight, more passion, we are more solid, but we need to win games."
Reflecting on the season as a whole, Crouch added: "Over the course of the season we deserve to be where we are. I have been here seven years and we have been nowhere near relegation, we have always been top 10, this year we have fallen well short.
"The manager has come in and revitalised it and the fans can see we are leaving everything on the pitch and doing everything to try to succeed whereas maybe earlier in the season it was embarrassing at times. We came off the pitch and asked have we done enough and I didn't think so.
"But that hasn't been the case for the last few months. It's all about getting results, thankfully the fans have stayed with us and they can see that fight and hopefully that turns into results.
"You have to hold your hands up, it's frustrating to be a part of it. There will probably be an inquest in the summer about what happened this season but for now, it's two games and we have to win them."
Watch Stoke v Crystal Palace live on Sky Sports from 11.30am on Saturday
