Stoke City manager Tony Pulis has hailed his team's performance in the Europa League despite losing to Valencia at the Britannia Stadium last night.

The Potters took to the field as the underdogs and while they did stumble to a 1-0 defeat, Pulis believes that the players deserve credit for their efforts.

"We needed a break, we needed to score first and that would have given everybody a lift and kept us going," said Pulis. "We had some good opportunities in the first quarter of an hour and it just didn't break for us then they scored a wonder goal.

"It's disappointing because Rory [Delap] or [Marc] Wilson could have got out to the ball a bit quicker but it's a fantastic strike [by Valencia's Mehmet Topal], a goal worthy of winning any game.

"They've got some great quality, they're a Champions League side so for us to give them the game we have, I think we've done smashing."

Stoke travel to Spain for the return leg next week.