Stoke manager Mark Hughes hails his side's attacking play after Swansea victory
Tuesday 1 November 2016 11:53, UK
Stoke manager Mark Hughes has hailed his side's attacking play after they beat Swansea 3-1 on Monday Night Football.
After a slow start to the season, the Potters have now won their last three Premier League games and are unbeaten in five, with Wilfried Bony netting twice against his old side with Joe Allen providing the assists.
The Ivory Coast striker scored inside three minutes before Wayne Routledge got the visitors level five minutes later, but Stoke ran away with the game in the second half with an Alfie Mawson own goal and a second from Bony sealing the points.
With his team netting their first three-goal haul since February, Hughes was keen to praise his strike force for their performance at the Bet365 Stadium.
"I thought our attacking play was really good today. We had any number of chances that could have gone in for us but we got the job done," the manager told Sky Sports after the game.
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"It was important to get that third win which is difficult in the Premier League with teams at our level. The top four or five can do it but for teams like us, it can be difficult to get back-to-back results.
"To do it three times now has enabled us to get into a position we feel comfortable in because we didn't want to be in the bottom half, we don't feel like we're a bottom-half team. We're pushing to get back into the top ten where we have been for the last three years.
"It was a big game for us and we understood the importance of the game today and we talked about that beforehand. It was important to get up into that middle group of teams and then build up our performances and our season from thereon in.
"We made a sort of slow start but after ten games, we've got exactly the same number of points as we did last year and the year before when we had record points accumulated for the season so it has been a slow start but no worse than any other we've had."
Bony netted his first goals for Stoke since his summer move from Man City, while Allen continued to shine under Hughes with the manager offering an explanation for their match-winning showings.
"Wilfried had been playing well, I said it before the game, his general play was good and it was only a matter of time before he scored," he added.
"Unfortunately for Swansea, it was one of their old boys who hurt them this evening along with another one in Joe Allen who created two of them, so a difficult night for Swansea fans.
"When your old boys come back and haunt you, it's difficult but they have been outstanding for us since they've come here and we're pleased with what they are producing.
"First and foremost, Joe is an outstanding football player and good players can play anywhere. I think the first thing that really struck me was his anticipation of where the ball is going to land, where moves are going to be created.
"He was always on the front foot in anticipating things in midfield areas and defensive areas so why not do it in attacking areas and if he can anticipate things in the box which he has been doing, then you're going to get onto the end of things and score goals or at least create them which he did tonight."
