Robert Huth insists that Stoke's performance in Valencia was one to be proud of and defied their critics.
Stand-in skipper pleased
Robert Huth insists that Stoke's performance in Valencia was one to be proud of and defied their critics.
The German captained Stoke as they went down 1-0 in the second leg of their Europa League last 32 clash in the Mestalla.
Stoke succumbed to a Jonas goal after 24 minutes, but they put up a good showing especially as Tony Pulis made eight changes for the match.
"Obviously they hit the bar in the first minute, but after that we possibly had the better chances," Huth told
ESPN.
"Kenwyne [Jones] was through a couple of times and there were good crosses coming in but it wasn't to be tonight.
"It would have been great to go 1-0 up and put them under pressure, but they scored against the run of play.
"I thought (it was a foul). (Arismendi) was trying to get through three players and it could have been a free-kick. Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don't.
"If you watch the game tonight, it's not Stoke to give up. We made a few changes to hopefully improve the team, but today we lost to a good team."
Fans
Stoke were well supported by a band of 4,000 travelling fans, and Huth saluted their efforts after the match.
"They have been brilliant," he said.
"There are more than 4,000 of them and everywhere you looked you could hear them. We thank the supporters and hopefully we will see them again soon somewhere like this."
