Mark Hughes thrilled by Stoke City's comeback at Tottenham

Mark Hughes praised Stoke City’s second-half display at Tottenham as the Potters fought back from two goals down to earn a late draw at White Hart Lane.

Spurs dominated the opening period in north London, going ahead thanks to goals from Eric Dier and Nacer Chadli, but Stoke stunned the home faithful with two goals in five second-half minutes as Marko Arnautovic and Mame Biram Diouf struck late on.

And, while being disappointed with Stoke’s first-half display, Hughes was adamant his side deserved their point.

“I’m really delighted with the second half performance, we can do better than we did in the first half – it wasn’t a complete 90 minute performance but I’m delighted to take a good point,” he told Sky Sports.

“We deserved at least a point, I’m sure. The first half wasn’t what were looking for before the game, we allowed Spurs too much time and space to get the rhythm of their passing going and we played into their hands.

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“I am disappointed with both goals. The first from a set piece before we conceded just before half time, we shouldn’t have allowed either of them.”

The introduction of substitutes Stephen Ireland and Potters debutante Joselu, coupled with the departure of injured Spurs striker Harry Kane, swung the game in Stoke’s favour.

And Hughes, following the impact his substitutes made coming off the bench, was keen to highlight the strength in depth he is assembling at the Britannia Stadium.

“At 2-0 it was big task for us but we understood what we needed to do, we needed to disrupt their rhythm and do the hard yards that we possibly didn’t do in the first half,” Hughes added.

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“We were able to do that and the substitutions helped us we got a bit more craft on later in the game and that opened things up for us.

“We retained possession in the final third and in the end got our reward, we were by far the better team in the second half and we were able to get back on level terms.

“I have got a lot of good players who will be disappointed when I don’t pick them, some lads will be sat in the stand some weeks when everyone is fit.

“That’s the strength in depth I feel we need and we saw that come to the fore when we made changes.

“We were able to bring good quality on to affect the game and give them different problems.”