Stoke City manager Mark Hughes hopes his side's "very satisfying" performance in their 0-0 draw at Manchester City on Wednesday can help to dismiss some of the criticisms recently aimed their way.
The Potters bounced back from another heavy defeat at Tottenham Hotspur, the sixth time this season they had conceded four goals in a game, with a win over Middlesbrough at the weekend.
But they were expected to be on a hiding to nothing against a City side who came into Wednesday's clash at the Etihad Stadium having gone unbeaten in nine games in all competitions, scoring 25 goals in that time.
Yet the Potters, lining up in a newly-introduced 4-4-2 formation, were excellent defensively as they frustrated Pep Guardiola's side and limited them to one shot on target across 90 minutes - and that from Aleksandar Kolarov's first-half free-kick.
And they thoroughly deserved to become the first Premier League team to keep a clean sheet at the Etihad since Guardiola's arrival in the summer.
Stoke boss delighted with impact of front two Berahino and Walters
Hughes, asked about his side's organisation and resilience at the back, told his post-match press conference: "Yeah, that was key for our performance tonight.
"We just said on the TV, at the end of the day it's not about systems and formations, it's about the team committing to what you're trying to do.
"They have to execute it. It's down to them. You can give them some kind of structure and hopefully a platform in terms of the tactical way of approaching the game but at the end of the day they've got to commit and that's exactly what they did tonight to a man.
"We changed it around a little bit and went with two up top, I don't think too many teams do that when they came here. The two lads gave us that real trigger and were the catalyst for our work and what we were trying to do.
"I was really pleased for Saido [Berahino] and Jon [Walters] , the belief they were showing and the energy they were giving us helped to filter back right through the team and we grew in confidence as a result of that.
"All in all, a very satisfying performance. We came here and restricted to City to few opportunities that I can remember, maybe the [David] Silva opportunity and the [Leroy Sané] chance right at the end with a great ball from [Kevin] De Bruyne, apart from that, only half-chances.
"I don't think our 'keeper had a save to make from open play, that tells you how well we've done and how well we've worked. We restricted a very good team to very few opportunities."
Expanding on Silva's chance - and the Spaniard being left on the bench to start with - Hughes said: "You saw his influence when he came on.
"If I'm honest I was pleased that he wasn't starting because he does gives them an extra element to their play, his calmness in possession and his ability to see the correct pass at the right time is outstanding.
"He's a world-class player so clearly we weren't too upset when he wasn't in the starting line-up and we were a little bit more anxious when he came on, I have to say."
Welshman hopes his side answered critics with well-drilled display
Hughes' side were actually the more dangerous team in the first-half, Mame Biram Diouf wasting two early chances while Bruno Martins Indi failed to test Willy Caballero after being left unmarked on a free-kick delivered into the box.
While they were forced to sit back and soak up plenty of pressure in the second-half, Stoke did so superbly and were fully deserving of a hard-earned point.
Hughes - formerly City boss between 2008 and 2009 - added: "You have to have obviously an attitude to the game in terms of making sure you're not going to get beaten and you have to drive yourself. You have to drive your teammates as well alongside you and everybody was doing that.
"The pleasing thing from our point of view was that we had too many questions in my view asked of our performance at Spurs. We held our hands up and we weren't good enough on the day and well beaten.
"But because that was fresh in our minds, we had a good response at the weekend in a different type of game and tonight we needed to answer a few questions that people have posed of us. Hopefully we have done."
Stoke hopeful of catching eight-placed West Brom, says Hughes
The Welsh boss also insisted his team have targets to reach despite being knocked out of all cup competitions.
"We've still got things we want to achieve, we're striving to be better every year," Hughes said. "We've had three top 10 finishes, ninth every year, but we'd like to be better this year.
"It's going to be tough but if we perform like we have done, we're in reaching distance of West Brom and we feel we can catch them without a shadow of a doubt.
"Everton might be more of a challenge but we're going to keep going because that's the group I've got. We're honest and we give everything and that was evident tonight."
Hughes handed January signing Berahino his first start since joining from West Brom in a £12 million deal and declared that he will feature regularly in Potters' final 10 games of the campaign having now proved his sharpness.
He continued: "He showed good levels today. We made a change, we just needed an extra body in midfield late on, but he's still got good energy and could have finished the game.
"He wasn't tiring markedly so that shows he's fit and up to speed now. He's going to get lots of games from now until the end of the season."