Hugo reflects

Hugo Lloris gave a typically honest assessment after our 2-1 loss against Stoke on Sunday.

Stoke took the initiative with an early goal from Bojan Krkic and doubled their lead through Jonathan Walters on 33 minutes.

Asmir Begovic denied Erik Lamela in the second half and there was hope when Nacer Chadli crashed home a volley for 2-1 but it wasn’t to be - Kyle Naughton’s red card all-but sealing our fate on the day as it stayed 2-1.

“We expected a tough game but when they scored the first goal we didn’t find a solution on the pitch and the consequence of that was a second goal,” reflected Hugo.

“The second half was much better. We showed more attitude and we were close to coming back into the game but 2-0 down at the end of the first half is difficult to accept.

“When we scored we felt good energy, some positivity and that’s normal because before the goal, it wasn’t enough.

“In the end, Stoke deserved their victory. We need to keep working hard to improve as a team and individually.”

Hugo is well aware of our home form. “We have two different faces, one at home, one away,” he said.

“Maybe we have lost some confidence at home. It’s strange though. At the beginning of the Newcastle game we were very good. Now against Stoke, the first five minutes were good but after they scored the first goal, we lost our mind in the game and Stoke took their opportunities.

“All the players want better results. We work hard every week but most important is the game and we need to show more. At the moment, it isn’t enough.”