Pulis: Upbeat

We came out [in the second half], scored the goal, but we conceded one straight afterwards and we are shooting ourselves in the foot

Tony Pulis
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Stoke boss Tony Pulis has played down his side's 2-1 defeat to Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Saturday.

The promoted side went 1-0 down after a glorious overhead kick from Peter Crouch in the first half.

And despite equalising early in the second half, when Ricardo Fuller latched onto a Rory Delap throw-in, Stoke surrendered another goal a minute later when Jermain Defoe scored a brilliant individual effort.

Although Pulis was frustrated by defeat, the Stoke boss was keen to give his opponents credit.

"I thought the first half we had some good chances," Pulis told Sky Sports.

"We most probably had the best chance of the first half when Dave [Kitson] went through and you need to take those chances and those opportunities.

"Crouch has scored a great goal on the back post and that has really changed the game then.

"We came out [in the second half], scored the goal, but we conceded one straight afterwards and we are shooting ourselves in the foot.

"It was a disappointing goal as well. They will look at it and say Defoe has hit a good finish, but disappointing from us.

"We knew when they got on top they can pass the ball well and they create good chances - Defoe and Crouch aren't too bad."

Weapon

Stoke's 48th minute equaliser was courtesy of a Delap special - his deadly throw-in - and Pulis is not afraid of admitting Delap's long throw is one of his side's main tactics for scoring.

"I think it's a great weapon [Delap's throw-in] and it's one that we'll certainly use and we get bodies in the right places and we work very hard at doing that," he said

Pulis is convinced that struggling striker Kitson is only one goal away from showing his true quality after a disappointing performance against Pompey saw the front man subbed in the second half.

Pulis said: "I think forwards are like that - I think they're confidence is more than anything else.

"We know Dave's a good player and we'll stick with him, we just need him to have that little bit of luck, and when he went through, you're hoping the player sticks it in the back of the net and then you'll see a different Dave Kitson."

Fixtures

The result leaves the Potters rooted in the bottom three, but Pulis is remaining positive after a difficult run of fixtures.

"We've played some good sides in the first 7 games," Pulis said.

"We've played Liverpool, Chelsea, Pompey, Everton, Aston Villa - there's five teams there who finished in the top 10 last year, so we've played some good, good teams.

"We've got four or five players going off [for international duty] so it messes the whole thing up really, but luckily, they're back the following Saturday so you're not waiting for them for the last minute and then they turn up so we'll have a week to work with the team then."