Tony Pulis admits he always believed his players would bounce straight back from defeat against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.

A brace from Richard Cresswell and a Ryan Shawcross header cancelled out Dougie Freedman's goal for the Eagles.

And the City boss reveals a win was always on the cards.

He says: "We had a good talk about what went wrong on Saturday, and the lads were determined to go out and prove a point.

"We had a great day ahead of the match, we were away from everybody and there was a real togetherness, and you could see how much the players wanted to get a win.

"I thought they were brilliant on the pitch, their commitment and the way they went about their job was absolutely first class.

"My only disappointment was that we didn't get more goals, because we got in three or four really good positions and the final ball let us down."

Cresswell's second half double saw him open his league account for the Potters, and Pulis says he is absolutely delighted for the 30-year old.

"Richard was the most outstanding player on the pitch," he insisted.

"I'm so happy for him because he covers every blade of grass and for him to get a couple of goals, that's what he deserves.

"He loves playing up front, and we will miss him at Bristol on Saturday.

"But over a season we are going to lose players for some matches and we are just going to have to cope."