We looked like we'd had too much Christmas pudding in the first half

Last updated : 27 December 2005 By Tony Scholes

The trouble appeared to be both on the pitch with the players and staff and also in the stands with someone being hit with something thrown from the away end. Amazing then that Stoke boss Johan Boskamp chose to give high praise to those supporters.

“They were fantastic,” Boskamp said. “It was great to see so many supporters come to cheer us on and when you see how they react to my players then I’m only disappointed we did not get anything for them. They sang right from the start of the game with such passion and they believe in what we are doing here.”

Incredible words from Boskamp who should be nervously waiting to hear the outcome of yesterday following on from the major problems at their own ground recently when QPR goalkeeper Simon Royce was attacked.

Onto the game though and the Stoke boss was quick to admit that his side did not deserve to win the game. “I think a draw was the fairest result,” he claimed. “I thought after the first fifty minutes that the game would be a draw but then we made a mistake and we gave it away.

“My players have never let me down since I came here and that was no different today. They gave everything and were so competitive for every ball. We played well in the first half and Burnley played well in the second half. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, that is football.”

Boskamp though was complaining after the game following the incidents at the end, claiming that our coaching staff were speaking to his players. “Nobody had the right to 'occupy' my players," he said. "One of their coaches was discussing something with Bangoura. I could go to their players and complain about Sinclair.

“It's very strange that people from another team are occupied with my players. We will watch the tape and see what happened. I will not discuss it with the Burnley players.”

This was a win that must have pleased Steve Cotterill just that little bit more than usual but he was quick to admit that we didn’t start the game as well as we could have. “We looked like we’d had too much Christmas pudding in the first half,” he joked, adding, “But in the second half we were excellent with some of our passing and our movement.

“That was probably the key to the win because it was a great set up to the goal and we are delighted with the three points. There were things in that goal that we work on in training a couple of times a week and they don’t always come off, but Michael Duff and Wade Elliott worked that opening perfectly.

“We didn’t do enough in the first half, but Gifton did hit the bar from a great cross from Wade but all in all, I felt we deserved our win and could have maybe have had another goal in the second half.”

Looking at the tough fixture schedule ahead of us he said, “When you start these games off, it is a tough run of four and it is important to get a win as soon as you can. We always felt that if we kept a clean sheet today we would go on to win it.

“I thought Wade played really well and he’s been like that for a couple of weeks in training and it was the same for Gifton. We probably couldn’t afford to miss this opportunity of playing both Wade and Gifton. I thought it was a good game to do it and we’ll probably change around over the next week or so to try and keep people fresh.

“I’ve said before that Wade, along with Garreth O’Connor and John Spicer, will all have parts to play in the team. We’ve got to be careful of flogging them all and having them all in the team when they’re not quite adjusted yet. That’s going to take a little while unfortunately.

“But to be fair to them, they’re every part of it and although Garreth and Spice were on the bench today they have played a major part this season. They don’t like it when you leave them out and they won’t look at you and don’t want to talk to you. I’m sure they will grow out of that though.”

Speaking on the incidents at the end Steve was clearly angry at what had happened and equally angry at the comments from Boskamp. When it was put to him what Boskamp had said he replied.

“That’s what he’s said is it?” and added. “Bangoura has slapped Frank Sinclair across the face when he went to shake hands with him. What’s that for?” Steve was far from happy with that but he was smiling, that’s two wins and a draw against Stoke since he became Burnley manager.