The Sentinel

O’NEILL PLEASED CITY ARE LEARNING LESSON

Potters show game management to record second successive 1-0 away win

- Peter Smith

MICHAEL O’neill hopes that Stoke City are starting to show they can manage games better after a perfect response to the Cardiff hammer blow.

Stoke have won 1-0 away at Blackpool and now Luton since surrenderi­ng a 3-0 lead to draw with the Bluebirds, results which have lifted them back to fifth in the Championsh­ip heading into the internatio­nal break.

Jacob Brown’s first-half goal gave them the lead at Kenilworth Road and there was dogged defending – and accusation­s of time wasting – to see it out.

O’neill said: “One of the things that has been pleasing for us is that we’ve scored the opening goal in away games as many as five times, or maybe more than that.

“That’s a good thing to have because it makes it more difficult for the home team and home fans. Unfortunat­ely, in a couple of situations we’ve not been able to see those out but we’ve managed the last couple well and seen the game out.

“We saw how we played Bournemout­h and there was very little in the game but they managed the game well in the last 20 or 25 minutes. You have to be able to do that away from home.”

Joe Bursik and Danny Batth were both booked for allegedly wasting time and ex Potters boss Nathan Jones showed his frustratio­n about Stoke’s game management.

“We’ve a lot of younger players in our team and they have to adapt to that,” said O’neill.

“We’ve a young goalkeeper and young centre-backs and I thought we did it very well. Joe Allen and Romaine play a big part in that and Danny Batth as well.

“It’s a big part of the game and you have to know when to move the opposition around and maybe when to slow the game down. It’s a learning experience for a lot of our players.”

Stoke had a tough three weeks after the last internatio­nal break in October but seven points from the last nine available means they are still at the right end of a tightly-jammed Championsh­ip.

The back-to-back away wins in particular pleased O’neill after such a freak afternoon against Cardiff.

“It’s a great response,” he said. “You can feel it in the dressing room. We had to dig deep on Wednesday night and had to dig deep again.

“Luton have been excellent here this season, the results show that, and in them and Blackpool, they might not be two of the bigger clubs in the division but they’re teams that are in a good place.

“To have those back to back away from home and get two wins is a big plus for us.”

 ?? ?? BACK ON TRACK: Danny Batth and Mario vrancic celebrate Stoke’s win after the final whistle against luton Town.
BACK ON TRACK: Danny Batth and Mario vrancic celebrate Stoke’s win after the final whistle against luton Town.
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