Stoke assistant boss Dave Kemp hailed the performances of Jermaine Pennant and Kenwyne Jones after the new arrivals combined for the Potters' equaliser in the 1-1 draw against West Ham. Having fallen behind to Scott Parker's first-half opener at the Britannia Stadium, the hosts pulled level three minutes after the restart when Jones got his head to Pennant's delightful cross. Both players, along with fellow new recruit Jon Walters, had to be removed from the action in the second period after picking up injuries, but up until he was substituted with seven minutes remaining Pennant in particular proved a real handful for the Hammers. The former Arsenal and Liverpool winger, who joined on loan from Real Zaragoza on transfer deadline day, was making his first start for Stoke and Kemp feels Pennant is settling well. "He did brilliantly for the goal and was bright," said Kemp, who has been handling media duties over the last few days since the death of manager Tony Pulis' mother. "Particularly for a new player, he has fitted in very well and taken on board what we want him to do. But there was a bit of a break-up in the (team) performance because we kept changing the players, not by choice but by necessity because they were injured. That broke the game up for us a little bit."
Source: PA
Source: PA