Lawrence thrills Pulis

By Alex Livie  

Lawrence thrills Pulis

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Tony Pulis was delighted with recent loan signing Liam Lawrence's performance against Hull on Saturday.

Lawrence only linked up with his new team-mates on Friday evening, but he was able to perform creditably for an hour of the 2-0 win at Hull.

The victory kept Stoke in touch with the play-off places and Pulis was quick to praise midfielder Lawrence.

"He turned up at 9.30pm last night at the team hotel, so for him to give us a good hour was terrific," said Pulis.

Stoke are now seventh in the table, but Pulis is refusing to get carried away.

"There is a long way to go," he said. "It's easy to get carried away and everyone is expecting decent things to happen instantly but it takes time to build a team."

Hull chief Phil Parkinson feels his side contributed to their own downfall on Saturday by conceding a goal inside two minutes.

"We made life very difficult for ourselves with the way we started," said Parkinson. "In between the goals there wasn't much between the sides, but at times we got a bit scrappy."

Nicky Forster has yet to score since signing for Hull in the summer, but Parkinson has backed him to come good.

"At times he was a little isolated and like any striker he feeds off goals, but he has a great career record of one in every three games."