"They were no better than us": Stoke City manager Nathan Jones on Sheffield Wednesday

Stoke City boss Nathan Jones bemoaned injuries, refereeing decisions and individual errors as contributing factors to his side’s defeat to Sheffield Wednesday last night.
Stoke City manager Nathan Jones.Stoke City manager Nathan Jones.
Stoke City manager Nathan Jones.

Under-pressure Jones, who was booked by referee Andy Madley for leaving his technical area late on, said there was little in a nip-and-tuck game where chances were at a premium.

Massimo Luongo’s 43rd minute strike was all that separated the sides at 90 minutes. It came courtesy of a Liam Lindsay mistake after Steven Fletcher’s flick on.

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Asked whether he felt his side were feeling the affects of back-to-back wins leading into the game, Jones said he felt his side showed enough to win the game, describing the challenge Wednesday offered as ‘basic’.

He said: “These are a very direct side who go from back to front, so it was a very basic game tonight.

“If you play your way and have a bit of cutting edge, you win the game, but we didn’t do the basics well enough first half.

“I’m flabbergasted really. it’s crazy. There’s nothing in the game. We come here against a side top six, I think, and absolutely nothing in the game.

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“We haven’t played as well first half as we’d like to, but we shouldn’t go in one down.”

In a game lacking quality going forward, Peter Etebo and Cameron Carter-Vickers went off early in that first half for Stoke, shifting the balance of the visitors. It was Lindsay who replaced Carter-Vickers and Jones made no secret of his frustration at his error.

“The difference between us and them is they don’t make huge errors,” he said.

“We felt we did enough in the game to get something out of it. They were no better than us. Take the major errors out of our play and we are top six.

“The error was the only thing in the game. It was the difference between the two sides.”