Pulis: Ba had nothing prove

Tony Pulis said hat-trick tormentor Demba Ba had nothing to prove after Stoke City chose not to sign him last season.

Pulis’ Stoke were beaten 3-1 by Newcastle United on Monday in the English Premier League, with Senegalese striker Ba netting the perfect treble at the Britannia Stadium.

Ba was close to sealing a deal with Stoke last season but the club pulled the plug on the nine million-pound deal because of injury concerns. Ba went on to move from Bundesliga club Hoffenheim to West Ham, before signing with Newcastle over the off-season.

After the game, the Potter boss told Sky Sports: “He’s scored enough goals without having to come here, I think people know about him. When we were going to sign Demba I think the price tag was nine million, and the medical people, who are brilliant at this football club, thought that it’d be too much of a risk.”

“Going somewhere on a free transfer is a different option, but paying nine million for what we see or what the medical people have seen, we thought was too much of a risk.”

Alan Pardew’s men took a 2-0 lead into the half-time break, but Pulis was far from happy about his side’s defending for the goals: “The first two goals are poor goals,” he said of Ba’s first-half double.

The two sides traded contentious penalties in the second half, but Pardew was – overall – delighted to leave the Britannia Stadium with three points and his side’s unbeaten start to the Premier League season intact.

“On a pitch like this, you’re going to get a lot of balls in your box and you have to defend them, and we did as a team tonight. It’s tremendous spirit,” Pardew told Sky Sports.

“I thought both penalties were a bit soft actually but when the ball keeps going in there it’s tough decisions for the referee, everyone’s pushing and barging.”

“I was a little bit disappointed (in the) second half. We didn’t control the game as we should have, but the resilience of the team showed another side to us. We don’t get 22 points without having different sides to our game.”