Pulis proud of Stoke success

Tony Pulis hailed his Stoke squad after their 1-1 draw with Dynamo Kiev secured a history-making berth in the last 32 of the Europa League.

An own-goal from Matthew Upson just before the half-hour mark put the visitors ahead at Britannia Stadium, but a late Kenwyne Jones header secured the point Stoke needed to qualify from Group E.

Stoke are unbeaten in Europe this term, and need just one point from their final game against Besiktas in Turkey to top the group.

“What we’ve done is fantastic and we’ve qualified from what I think is the toughest group,” Pulis said.

“It’s the first time this football club’s ever achieved this, so it’s another milestone and is testimony to everything we’re trying to do.”

“That’s nine games in Europe and nine games unbeaten. It’s a great, great achievement.”

“It’s very difficult for Premier League teams to play in the Europa League because you come back and every game is like a cup final.”

“You can look at other European leagues and the strength in depth isn’t as great. It’s a real struggle in that respect but we want to do well.”

“It’s the first time we’ve been in Europe for more than 30 years. I want to enjoy it, I want the supporters to enjoy it, I want everybody at the football club to enjoy it because we might not get it for a while again.”