Stoke manager Gary Rowett praised his side’s defensive resolve after seeing them beat Norwich 1-0 to make it seven points from nine Championship games.
The Potters were on the back foot for long periods at Carrow Road but soaked up the pressure in impressive fashion to come away with a hard-fought victory.
Rowett said: “I thought we showed another side of our game.
“We didn’t come here expecting to be pushed so deep and have so little of the possession but Norwich showed what a good side they are and made it very difficult for us.
“We had to dig and we put in a concentrated, disciplined performance to come away with the points. We defended really well and restricted them to two shots on target in the entire game.
“We got our bit of luck with the own goal, but the players deserve a lot of their praise for the way they performed.”
The win followed hard on the heels of a draw at Rotherham and a home victory over Bolton and Rowett is pleased to be going into the break with some upward momentum.
He added: “After the first three or four games I actually think we have been putting in decent performances, with a few silly mistakes costing us.
“People were writing us off after 10 games but there is still a long way to go, almost a Premiership season if you like, and we have plenty of time to close the gap on the leading sides.
“Our recent performances have been good and if we continue to play like we did today I will always be confident that we will pick up results.”
The fact the game was settled by an own goal summed up Norwich’s luck on the day.
A slick move down the right saw Tom Ince feed the overlapping Cuco Martina and as the ball zipped in over the greasy surface, Timm Klose’s attempted interception ended up in the back of the home net.
The Canaries were dominant for long periods and created a number of good chances in both halves but Jack Butland produced a couple of good stops when required, the pick of them coming early on when he thwarted a fiercely-struck effort from defender Jamal Lewis.
Norwich manager Daniel Farke was feeling hard done by after the game.
He said: “If we had got just one point from this game it would still have been too little.
“I am totally proud of the way the lads dominated a side who have a lot of good, Premiership players in their side.
“It was just the way I like to see my teams play – attractive, technical football played at a good pace, with plenty of chances being created.
“We won more duels and more headers than Stoke, had more shots and created more chances. In the second half we had 75 percent of the possession.
“But we end up losing to a very unfortunate goal. I think it was just one of those days when things didn’t go for us.
“I would say it was possibly our best performance of the season and I think the supporters appreciated what we were trying to do.
“They were tremendous again, both during the match and at the final whistle, and I would like to say a big thank you to them.”
