Stoke City boss 'disappointed' despite 6-1 thumping of Portsmouth

Stoke City manager Naris Pelach believes his side should have won by more after a goal was disallowed against Pompey in their 6-1 win on Wednesday night.

At the time, the Potters were leading 1-0 through Tom Cannon’s early effort. Sam Gallagher scored with an angled finish but celebrations were cut short after he was adjudged to have been offside.

The former Blackburn Rovers striker ended up scoring anyway just before half-time, but in what was a tight call, the Stoke boss believes it should have stood. Having taken a lead against Hull City before capitulating and losing 3-1, the new manager was happy with how their heads didn’t drop after Gallagher’s effort was disallowed.

"I was disappointed because we had a couple of decisions against us against Hull and Middlesbrough, which didn't go our way,” said Pelach in his post-match press conference when asked about how he was feeling when Gallagher’s effort was chalked off.

"Today, the first thing that your head is thinking is again. It was a goal, it should have been a goal, and look it's what it is. We have talked a lot with the players these days about being on the action, and the things we can control.

"The refereeing decisions we cannot manage, we can't control. I'm happy with the team because I think it didn't bother us too much, we were just thinking about the next action.

"This is what I want, this is what I want my team to think about. Stay on the game, stay on the action, and fully focus on the present."

It looked like the game could have panned out to be a competitive one when Mark O'Mahony equalised to cancel out Tom Cannon's opener, but a strong finish to the half saw Pompey fall behind, and they never recovered. Cannon scored his second from the break and then Gallagher scored an effort that did stand.

As the players emerged from the second-half, the on-loan Leicester City striker was on target again before Andrew Moran rounded off the scoring. It’s the heaviest margin of defeat Pompey have suffered this season, which was disappointing after shutting out Sheffield United at the weekend.

“We were very competitive, on the front foot, going to press, and forcing a lot of mistakes,” Pelach said.

“I think they have been uncomfortable from the first minute, we started on the front foot, we kept that intensity throughout I would say the whole 70 minutes.

“We then went down a little bit but we have to get used to the style of play.

“It's very demanding, it's a lot of running but for 70 minutes we sustained that. Of course there are things to improve, and I've already said to them there are things we have to do better but it is a pleasing win, and we have to enjoy it.”