Hughes delighted with Allen impact

Mark Hughes heaped praise on new signing Joe Allen after the midfielder made his first Stoke City start in the heavy home defeat to Manchester City.

Allen, signed from Liverpool for £13m this summer, played alongside Glenn Whelan and Giannelli Imbula in midfield as the Potters tried to stop Pep Guardiola’s free-flowing side controlling the game.

But two first-half goals from Sergio Aguero and two late strikes from new City winger Nolito meant Stoke lost their opening home game of the season 4-1.

However, Hughes still took the positives and said Allen’s performance proved he was right to splash the cash.

“I thought he was excellent,” Hughes said.

Photo by Chris Brunskill/Getty Images

“We saw the energy and understanding of the game he’s got and that will help us moving forward.

“It wasn’t really a shock to me and he’s going to get better and more of an influence moving forward.”

Stoke fell 2-0 behind but clawed their way back into the game through Bojan’s second-half penalty.

City started to creak under the home side’s pressure, with Hughes adamant that they should have been awarded a second spot-kick when Allen tangled with Aleksandar Kolarov.

“The assistant referee had a clear view, or should have done because it was his side,” he said.

“You just want the officials to get the key moments and big decisions correct.”