Pulis: United far too strong

Stoke City boss Tony Pulis heaped praise on Manchester United after seeing his side come unstuck at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

Stoke went down 2-1 to United for the second time this season despite matching the league leaders for most of the journey.

The Potters went into half-time 1-0 behind on Javier Hernandez’s goal, but Dean Whitehead gave the visitors a glimmer of hope when he nodded past United goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak five minutes after the break.

But Portugal international Nani quickly extinguished any thoughts of an upset with a brilliant left-footed winner from the edge of the box on 62 minutes.

Pulis lauded United’s quality after the match, though he admitted he was disappointed to be leaving Old Trafford empty-handed.

“We have played them twice and run them close, but they are a good team,” Pulis told Sky Sports.

“They have got some terrific players and whatever team they put out they have players that can hurt you.”

“We watched them at West Brom (on Saturday) and they were different today, with Nani wide and (Ryan) Giggs. They were always a threat down the sides and through the middle.”

“It’s a trait of all the top clubs. If you look at the top five or six clubs, they can all make four or five changes and the players that come in are very similar to the ones that are left out.”

“You need that if you are going to be title contenders. They (United) have shown that again today.”

“It was disappointing first half because I thought we contained them okay, in respect of shots on goal, but never looked a threat going forward.”

“It’s nice to score, but Nani’s goal is a terrific goal.”

Pulis also had a warning for United’s fellow title rivals, declaring Sir Alex Ferguson’s men near-impossible to defeat.

“They know how to win. It is a mentality that runs through the club,” he said.

“You can get used to winning and used to losing but this is almost something ingrained.”

“It gives them that edge and will stand them in good stead this season because they will have a run when things don’t go so well.”