Huddersfield Town head coach David Wagner has admitted Stoke City deserved their straightforward 2-0 over his side at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Terriers carried no threat on the day as their winless run in the Premier League stretched to six games and now sit just two points above the relegation zone.
The Town players "gave everything"
Speaking to HTTV after full-time, David Wagner insisted that his team gave everything, despite the unconvincing all-around performance, against a "top" Premier League side.
“I can say that the players gave me everything today, they fought and showed attitude and effort.
"We worked against them, this is what we’ve done without creating opportunities in our offensive.
"They have shown that they are a top team in the Premier League, even if they’ve struggled so far."
Deserved defeat must be accepted
Town's head coach was content with the "effort and attitude" of his newly-promoted outfit but rued the lack of creativity on show.
"I can live with the effort and attitude even if the result hurts, it’s something we should accept and go forward.
"We tried to limit them, in the first half it worked but in the second half they had more clear-cut chances.
"We were not able to create opportunities to come into our game, they limited our football and were aggressive."
Wagner was quick to focus his attention on Huddersfield's next match against Liverpool at the John Smith's Stadium next week and explained that everyone needs to accept this poor result, recover and work hard together to bounce back.
"In the end, it was a deserved defeat and we must accept it."