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"I just think that when you are playing a team who are newly promoted they play with freedom and you don't really know what you're going to get," Pulis said after the game.
"Our lads put in a lot of effort, grafted and stuck at it and we managed to get two goals from set plays which I am absolutely delighted with.
"When you look at the fixtures today there are only two teams who have won at home, and they are ourselves and Chelsea.
"The first game of the season you just don't know what you are going to get, but fair play to the lads because without really getting out of first gear they got the right result. There was definitely room for improvement and we will make sure that happens.
"But we got a clean sheet, three points, made a great start and that is just what we wanted."
It's a learning curve for Burnley but Owen Coyle will want the defending to be stepped up very quickly after we conceded two goals from two left wing set pieces. He said: "There are a number of things we have learned today and we need to learn quickly.
"The margins for error are minimal, but I think this was an opportunity lost and if we can eradicate that from our game and compete, then we can offer a lot going forward and compete at this level.
"Obviously we are disappointed to get beat, but I thought we contributed an awful lot to the game and there are a lot of positives to take from it.
"We certainly had goalscoring opportunities and passed the ball well to get behind Stoke on numerous occasions. I'm just disappointed in the goals we lost, which were two defensive errors.
"They were well warned about the threat that Stoke possess and that's what is so galling about it. We gave away a cheap free kick and that should have been dealt with, but Shawcross, who we know is good in the air, is left unmarked. That puts you on the back foot and then we shot ourselves in the foot from a long throw.
"The own goal then leaves us with a mountain to climb, but the lads showed they are brave enough to carry the ball and commit players and I believe if we could have got a goal early in the second half then we could have gone on to get a result."
He continued: "It was always going to be tough because we had three centre halves missing, but that's the nature of football and I am not hiding behind anything. We came here with a team that we thought was good enough to get a positive result and we applied ourselves in the right manner.
"I can't recall Brian Jensen having a save to make, but that's what happens at this level and you have to be ready for it.
"I think we have got a young team that is evolving and as the season goes on we will get better. We have invested in a young group, but there was a lot of heart to be taken from today.
"I had players out there who did not look out of place in the Premier League and that's what we are going to need for the duration of the season."