Mark Hughes hails Stoke following victory over Swansea
Tuesday 20 October 2015 08:07, UK
Stoke City manager Mark Hughes believes his side are beginning to get what they deserve as they made it three Premier League wins in a row with victory over Swansea City.
Bojan's third-minute penalty proved to be enough to secure the Potters' first top-flight victory at the Liberty Stadium and their first win at Swansea since 1993.
Stoke had to wait until late September to claim their first win of the new Premier League season following a slow start which saw them lose three of their opening five fixtures.
"It was a really good performance and I am really pleased for us as we've been on a decent run of form. We started slowly in terms of points on the board, but we are starting to pick up points with our performances," Hughes told Sky Sports.
He added: "I was pleased with the amount of control we had of the game. I thought we were calm in possession, knocked the ball around really well and obviously Swansea have a reputation for that, but I thought we more than matched them.
"We were always a threat on the break and we had good opportunities in the first half. If we had taken a little bit more care with the final pass we would have possibly capitalised a bit more on the good situations that we found ourselves in.
"I felt it was a good away performance, a good professional performance and we deserved the three points tonight."
Hughes also defended goalkeeper Jack Butland for his first half challenge on Andre Ayew.
The England international, under no pressure, miskicked his clearance into the path of Ayew, but produced a last-ditch challenge to deny him getting a shot on goal.
Television replays shown inside the Liberty Stadium showed Butland launch himself into the challenge with his studs showing, much to the anger of the home support.
Hughes, however, is convinced referee Robert Madley made the right choice by not awarding a foul.
"The ball went under his foot and he had to try and retrieve it. It was probably a centre-half's tackle rather than a goalkeeper's tackle, but thankfully he got the ball first and was able to stop anything developing," Hughes said.
"I was a little upset the replay was shown almost immediately in the stadium, that should not be allowed and that got a reaction from the crowd. We had to start to get a hold of the game to take that edge from the crowd again."
