http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/story-15214728-detail/story.html? CAPTAIN Ryan Shawcross says Stoke only have themselves to blame for losing at Fulham, their fourth successive Premier League defeat. City didn't get going before the break and fell behind when Russian debutant Pavel Pogrebnyak was given too much space to open the scoring on 16 minutes. Clint Dempsey was also allowed to shoot from 25 yards on 28 minutes. That led to City going 2-0 down when keeper Thomas Sorensen failed to push the ball over and instead unwittingly deflected it into his own goal after the shot hit the bar. Stoke were better after the break, particularly when Ricardo Fuller and Jermaine Pennant came on mid-way through the second half. Shawcross headed home Pennant's corner on 78 minutes, but that was too late to salvage a point. Stoke are still nine points clear of the drop zone, but Shawcross says that is no reason for complacency. He said: "We worked in training on getting past the front post and getting the flick on, and it worked today. But we have lost and we are very disappointed. We are being dragged closer to the relegation zone. "We are very concerned, but while we have been in the Premier League we have always been a team that has gone on runs of wins and losses. Hopefully we can turn it round in our next league games against Swansea and Norwich. "They are home games, so we have to look forward to them and hopefully get some more points on the board." City could claim bad luck because Pogrebnyak's goal came from a mis-hit shot from Jon Arne Riise before Sorensen's own goal for the second. However, Shawcross said the result wasn't about ill fortune. He explained: "The goals are our fault. We should have dealt with them better. We didn't do our jobs and they scored. "Both goals were disappointing from a defensive point of view." The captain believes the second-half substitutions, which also included Ryan Shotton coming on for Andy Wilkinson, helped City. He said: "The lads seemed to give us a little spark and we seemed to get after them more. "We got the goal and we looked like we were going to get a second. "I think we sat off them a bit too much in the first half. Then we went into the second half and thought 'we are 2-0 down we have nothing to lose, let's get after them'. "Ric came on and he added a bit of a spark. We looked much better." Stoke could have been playing against 10 men, but Pogrebnyak escaped even a yellow card for a studs-up challenge on Wilson Palacios shortly after the Russian's 16th-minute opener. The foul looked worse than the challenge for which Robert Huth was sent off against Sunderland last week, but Shawcross was diplomatic about the incident. He said: "I did see it, but I'm a player who likes to tackle and I never want to see players sent off unless it is a very vicious tackle. I think football is a physical game and tackling is a massive part of it. "The FA and everyone have to be careful we don't take that away from what is a great game."
Well sgt, All I can say is WELL said Ryan Shawcross. At least he's being honest.. basically saying.. we were CRAP first half which is slightly different to HOW Tony described things on saturday night! Time for a visit too Specksaver's Uncle Tone... or.. another coaching badge course. DID he actually qualify as a Pro coach guys? If the answer is yes. HOW the **** did he PASS the course!
