Tottenham 3 Stoke 0: Tim Sherwood happy with ‘good start’

Tim Sherwood declared himself happy with a “good start” to his Tottenham Hotspur reign after a comfortable win against Stoke City.

Summer signing Roberto Soldado broke the deadlock before half-time from the penalty spot after Emmanuel Adebayor was brought down in the Potters area.

It’s good start [to my tenure] but we know there are tougher tests ahead

Tim Sherwood

And Spurs sealed three points after the half-time break courtesy of goals from Mousa Dembele and Aaron Lennon at White Hart Lane.

Sherwood, who was handed the job on a permanent basis last Monday, was pleased to pick up his second Premier League win in three games.

“I thought they played well from start to finish. Two goals is never enough. We know what Stoke are about,” Sherwood told BBC Sport.

“They can hang on and get a scrappy goal. We took some of our chances – a few more went missing.

“I was very pleased with some of the young boys that came in. It’s good start [to my tenure] but we know there are tougher tests ahead.”

Stoke City manager Mark Hughes, meanwhile, admitted that his side struggled to cope with Tottenham’s pace and power in the 3-0 loss.

“I felt a little bit aggrieved at the start of the game. I felt we had a good claim for a penalty before Tottenham’s penalty,” Hughes said.

“In terms of having an impact on the game, we found it difficult.

“They have got a lot of power and pace and we struggled to cope with that. There are reasons for that as we are missing key players but we need to do better.

“We struggled to get a foothold in the game. We need to be able to get in behind teams but don’t have that option.

“On the day we were not good enough and up to the standard of the Spurs players.”