No excuses for defeat, says Pulis

Manager Tony Pulis has not seen his Stoke City side win since November

Stoke City manager Tony Pulis offered no excuses following the Potters' 3-1 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday.

Goals from Aaron Lennon, Jermain Defoe and Michael Dawson put Spurs 3-0 up at half-time before James Beattie pulled one back in the second half.

Pulis told BBC Radio Stoke: "The first-half just wasn't good enough. There was no spirit and we weren't competitive.

"In the second half, we rolled up our sleeves and scored but the first half was as bad as we've played all season."

The result leaves the Potters 19th in the Premier League and still looking for their first away win of the season.

"It's happened too many times this season where we've gone away from home and started very slowly," said Pulis.

"You can say that Spurs played well and their second goal was a good one but when we're up for the game and on the front foot things like that don't happen.

"You can't go away in the Premier League and wait for things to happen, you've got make them happen," he added.

However Pulis did have praise for new signings Matthew Etherington and James Beattie after Etherington's pass put Beattie through to score City's consolation goal.

"I thought those two were the shining lights for us," said the former Gillingham boss.

"Matty has really looked like a good player and the pass for the goal was superb.

"James then took it with aplomb - it was a great finish," he added.

The defeat at White Hart Lane leaves the Potters without a win in 11 games in all competitions, but Pulis said he was confident an improvement was just around the corner.

"I knew the games we had in January were going to be difficult," said Pulis.

"We have a tough game against Manchester City on Saturday but then we have a run where we really need to start winning games."