Joe Allen is confident Stoke is the right club for him

Image: Joe Allen is feeling comfortable in a Stoke City shirt

Joe Allen admits to feeling revitalised by his summer switch to Stoke from Liverpool.

The midfielder played a starring role on Monday as Wales opened their World Cup qualifying campaign with an emphatic 4-0 home victory over Moldova.

And the 26-year-old, who left Liverpool in a £13m deal, is upbeat about the season ahead with his new club: "I feel refreshed and really positive.

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"I think it had come to the point where I knew I needed to move on. Personally, it was pretty obvious.

"Hopefully, I will get much more game time now and I think that is going to be really important for me in my international career as well.

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Image: Allen scored for Wales against Moldova on Monday

"Any player will tell you regular football makes tonnes of difference to the way you perform and the way you feel out on the football pitch.

"It comes to a certain stage in your career where, if it's not happening, then you have to go and seek it out."

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After a four-year stay on Merseyside, Allen believes he is at the right club with Stoke manager Mark Hughes.

Highlights from Group D as Wales faced Moldova in the European Qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup

He added: "It's pretty obvious that my type of play would not have suited Stoke years ago.

"But the likes of Shaqiri, Arnautovic, Bojan, (Ibrahim) Afellay and (Giannelli) Imbula - players they have brought in - as well as others that were already there, (Glenn) Whelan, Jonathan (Walters) and (Peter) Crouch. The list goes on.

"It made it really appealing to me, and was one of the big reasons why I signed there.

"You have seen they have finished ninth three years running and they are not happy to settle for that.

Image: Allen believes the time was right to leave Liverpool after four years

"Now everyone is talking about the impact Bony will have at Stoke, and the boys who played with him at Swansea talk very highly of him.

"So I'm looking forward to getting back up there now and playing alongside him."

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