Pardew: 'Stoke Had A Foothold'

Last updated : 27 December 2013 By Footy Mad - Editor

Alan Pardew: "It was a funny afternoon.

"It wasn't a funny afternoon after 35 minutes or whatever because the change we made wasn't quite working out for us and Stoke had a good foothold in the game.

"We were struggling to get any rhythm to our play and if I am honest, I was just waiting to get to half-time.

"Then in the second half, I asked the team to be clinical, to move the ball quickly, and it couldn't have gone any better.

"We were very, very good in the second half.

"I thought the Stoke players, all nine of them, conducted themselves very, very well considering the pressure of having to play against what we had on the pitch at that time."