Pulis: Little downside in draw

Stoke City manager Tony Pulis praised the efforts of his players despite conceding late to draw 1-1 at Dynamo Kiev in the Europa League.

English Premier League side Stoke led through Cameron Jerome’s goal in the 55th minute at the Valeri Lobanovski Stadium and looked to be on course for victory against the former Champions League semi-finalists.

But a last-minute equaliser from Ognjen Vukojevic forced the visitors to settle for a share of the spoils on Thursday.

While understandably disappointed at missing out on the victory, Pulis was more than satisfied by Stoke’s performance in the Ukraine.

“We changed the system to suit the players that we have got out here, and in the circumstances I thought we adapted extremely well,” Pulis said.

“It was a massive ask of them to change the way we set up against a side of that quality.”

“But once again it speaks volumes for the character and the spirit of the players, because we keep asking questions of them and they keep coming up with an answer.”

“We are obviously pig sick that we conceded such a late goal but that doesn’t take any of the shine off what is an absolutely fantastic result.”

“We are playing against one of the top sides in Europe and we were more than a match for them.”

As well as new arrival Jerome, who scored on debut, goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen and midfielder Salif Diao were also making their first outing of the campaign.

And Pulis was happy with the how they survived the challenge in Kiev.

“What makes it particularly satisfying is that there were a number of players out there who were starting a game for the first time this season, because they needed to get a game under their belts,” Pulis said.

“We are so much better for the fact they have now done that and they have all stood up to what was a very tough test.”

Stoke are second in Group E behind Besiktas of Turkey, who visit the Britannia Stadium on September 29.