Redknapp rapt, Pulis blames defence

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp said his side’s football was a pleasure to watch after their 3-2 win over Stoke at White Hart Lane on Saturday.

Peter Crouch responded well from his dismissal in Spurs 4-0 loss to Real Madrid in Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg, by netting the opener on Saturday, before Luka Modric doubled the hosts’ advantage after 18 minutes.

Matthew Etherington pulled one back for Stoke nine minutes later, but Crouch’s second put Spurs 3-1 up until Kenwyne Jones made it 3-2 four minutes before the break.

That was where the scoring ended, however, and Redknapp lauded the quality of the game in the first-half, before insisting his men had not given up on a Champions League semi-final berth despite their heavy defeat on Tuesday.

“I just enjoyed watching the way we played that first half so much. The football was absolutely fantastic. It was a pleasure,” Redknapp told Sky Sports.

“They never give up Stoke. They put you under pressure and we had to hang on at times.”

“I was delighted how we played, especially in that first half.”

“We had a setback at Real Madrid, but they could have beat anybody 4-0 when you’re down to 10 men.”

“We’ve still got a game to come here on Wednesday and who knows what can happen. We’ll give it our best shot for sure.”

“You’ve always got a chance. We need to get an early goal if we can. It’s a great game to look forward to – a dream game in the last eight of the Champions League. Let’s go and give it a real go.”

Stoke boss Tony Pulis felt his side let the game slip early on, but was pleased with the way his men fought the rest of the game out.

“It was a poor start,” he said. “I thought they were defending for the first 20-25 minutes just poor.”

“(They) just stood off and watched players play round us and there?s such good players at this football club and if you do that they cause you problems.”

“We?re really disappointed with the three goals we?ve conceded. Two great goals we?ve scored; Matty?s effort and Kenwyne?s were top, top draw, but we got a little bit closer in the second-half and gave them a run for their money.”