TONY PULIS was delighted to see Stoke City produce another flurry of goals . . . but admitted that his side should have avoided the nervous ending to a much-needed Barclays Premier League victory over Fulham at the Britannia Stadium.

After scoring three times in the FA Cup triumph over York City at the weekend, the Potters stormed into a three-goal lead in the first half on Tuesday evening, only to find themselves hanging on in the closing stages after Fulham hit back after the break.

Tuncay, Abdoulaye Faye and Mamady Sidibe were all on target as Pulis' side ended a run in which they had scored just goals in the last six Premier League matches and had won only once in nine games.

"I was delighted with our first half performance because we pressed them so hard and we could have scored more goals," he said after the 3-2 victory.

"We created eight or nine really good chances over the 90 minutes and probably should have taken more than just three of them. We even forced a couple of good saves out of their 'keeper when we had lost some of our momentum in the second half.

"In all fairness though, we have been creating plenty of chances in other matches such as the Birmingham game, but haven't made the most of them."

He added: "Fair play to Fulham, they are a very good footballing side and we knew they would put us under some pressure at some point during the game.

"It got a bit nervy towards the end, but that is not surprising really. Overall though, it was a great performance and it was an important result for us."

Fulham boss Roy Hodgson described it as "a very expensive loss" after the disappointment of the defeat was compounded by the injuries suffered in-form striker Bobby Zamora and influential defender Brede Hangeland.

Hodgson revealed that Zamora had dislocated his shoulder or collar bone, while Hangeland had suffered a recurrence of a knee problem.

"It has been a very expensive day for us," he commented. "Not only have we lost the game, we have lost two players who are important to us."

He added: "I thought we came back well in the second half after conceding some disastrous goal in the first half. The one thing that you know you have to do when you come to Stoke is defend set-pieces, but we didn't that tonight.

"I was particularly displeased with the second goal because we found ourselves defending a free kick from a situation where there was no danger to us.

"The players wanted to finish the match in a dignified fashion after the first half and we certainly fulfilled that ambition in the way we fought back."