Hughes delight at pressure-easing win

Fulham boss Mark Hughes praised his side’s fighting qualities after their 2-0 win over Stoke at Britannia Stadium on Tuesday.

Coming just two days after a disastrous 3-1 loss to West Ham at home that left them inside the relegation zone, Fulham hit back in the best possible way with two goals to Chris Baird inside the opening 10 minutes proving too much for Stoke.

Hughes said he was happy with his side’s preparation for the game and admitted they had a point to prove going in. The result also eases the pressure somewhat on the former Manchester United and Chelsea striker, whose reign at the club had been under scrutiny after the loss to the Hammers.

“Satisfaction is the emotion; we had a real intensity to the game, before and during,” Hughes told the BBC.

“Our focus was excellent and we got the job done.”

“It’s always a difficult place to come, Stoke, it’s a place where they put you under pressure and ask questions and if you don’t have the answer it becomes very difficult but each and every one of my players stood up to the challenge.”

“There were some huge performances, (but) it would be wrong to highlight individuals because collectively the team were magnificent.”

“We have shown we can battle and scrap. Maybe some thought that was beyond us.”

Stoke manager Tony Pulis lamented a poor start from his side but was pleased with the way the players responded after the falling behind so early.

“We gave them a two goal lead in the first 10 minutes, and it’s difficult then to chase the game,” Pulis said. “The start was very, very poor for us.”

“We did really well at Blackburn (a 2-0 win on Boxing Day) and we really prepared the players, but like all human beings they let you down sometimes, or let themselves down.”

“But after that first 20 minutes we got into the game. If we’d have got a goal it might have been a different game.”