Stoke City manager,Mark Hughes, believes his side can take plenty of positives away from their defeat to Arsenal on Saturday.
The Potters made a bright start to the match at the Emirates and their efforts were rewarded when they took the lead thanks to Charlie Adam's penalty. Unfortunately, the visitors were unable to hold out until half-time and were overrun in the second half as they ended up on the wrong end of the 3-1 scoreline.
FT: The final whistle goes at the Emirates Stadium, a harsh result for the Potters. Post match reaction to follow #Arsenal 3-1 #SCFC pic.twitter.com/PuH2AGYWWO
Despite the defeat, an upbeat MarkHughes told theclub'swebsitethat hebelieves his team could be pleased with their efforts and can take plenty of positives away from the match.
The Welshman said:In the past we've come here and struggled to get any shots on goal or get out of our own half but I think we can be reasonably pleased with what we've produced today.
We're an honest group and I'm not going to claim that we deserved to win because Arsenal are a very good and strong team, as their league position shows.
But we can take positives from the way we've gone about it. We've taken a look at one or two things; we will be without the likes of Wilfried Bony, Mame Diouf and Ramadan in January due to African Cup of Nations and it's important that we look at what we can and can't do ahead of that.
We played Marko Arnautovic through the middle and I think that may have taken them by surprise a little bit. With his strength and power he's always going to cause problems which I think he did.
We created one or two chances and perhaps the difference was the fact that Arsenal took the opportunities that came their way but we didn't.�
Fewest Premier League long balls (35+ yards) attempted this season:
Arsenal (554)
Bournemouth (668)
Stoke (691)
Man Utd (698)
Wengerball. pic.twitter.com/QZeFtLQ06K
Hughes then went on to discuss his side's penalty, after opposition manager Arsene Wenger said he felt itwas unfairly awarded, despite Granit Xhaka clearly making contact with Stoke's Joe Allen.
When asked for his thoughts on Lee Mason's decision, the Potters boss said:I haven't seen the incident again but there was certainly a coming together.
Joe has got a bang on his face and there was a lot of blood so something has happened but I think we deserved the lead at the point, whichever way it came.�
With games coming thick and fast, Hughes must brush his players down and prepare them for back-to-back home matches, starting this Wednesdaywhere Stoke host Southampton.