Stoke City boss Mark Hughes heaped praise on to his team after they battled to a 0-0 draw away to his old club Manchester City on Wednesday night.
With Joe Allen and Ryan Shawcross at the spine of the team, Stoke managed to keep Man City's stars quiet for the majority of the game, with the Citizens only threatening the Potters goal on one occasion. Hughes was clearly delighted that his team managed to keep a clean sheet at the Etihad, with the hosts having scored ten goals in their previous two home outings.
It was a great team performance from us tonight,� Hughes told Stoke City Player.
We went a little bit different, in terms of personnel on the field, which I suggested may well be the case before the game.
Obviously after what happened at Spurs was still fresh in our minds, and I think that helped us this evening to produce a vastly improved showing.
We didn't want to produce the same showing again and right from the off we looked far more determined and committed.
We had really good triggers up top too with Saido (Berhinho) and Jonathan Walters, along with Mame Diouf and Ramadan (Sobhi), who have carried the flag for us. We were strong and resolute in the middle of the park tonight and the back four had to work hard to keep their positions throughout the game, although they were protected incredibly well by Geoff (Cameron) and Joe (Allen).
I don't actually think Lee Grant had many saves to make apart from one from a free-kick - which tells you how well we have defended to keep a very good Manchester City side at bay.�
Stoke City remain in ninth place after the result, four points adrift of eighth placed West Bromwich Albion. The Potters' next game is against the Premier League leaders, and Hughes will be hoping that his team can build on this result when they welcome Chelsea to the Bet365 Stadium on March 18th.
Stoke City hold their hosts to a first goalless draw this season as Guardiola's men miss out on going second: https://t.co/0XYpPxzrpJ pic.twitter.com/qzvlLmwfDc