Zola on ... Stoke

Gianfranco Zola shares his thoughts on the defeat at Stoke...

“Well it’s frustrating for us to come out with no points because as when they scored the second goal it looked like we were going to win that game. It’s tough for me to commentate that. It’s tough for me to have a go at the players as I think they gave everything. It is encouraging that if we play like that it will be a different story soon - that is all I can say about that.

It’s the same as the situation we had last season, Right now we pay very hard for every little mistake that we make. The second goal was an aasily reparable mistake in the midfield and they scored. It is not going our way but the team is determined to improve. The way they played it makes me feel that the corner is very close.

I saw the incident. Matthew is OK now and he has had a few stitches. Looking at the incident after the match, he would have been sent off. I can only assume the referee didn’t see it.

I don’t know. It won’t change the story for me. It is down for the Premier League to decide. I had a look and in my honest opinion it was a sending off.

No I haven’t spoken to the referee about it. I don’t think I need to - I can only assume he didn’t see it as it was quite clear it was a sending off.