Tony Pulis Reveals What He Told Jordan Hugill After Stoke Dive

The striker was caught on Sky TV cameras going down far too easily, with his on-pitch behaviour earning him the ire of both critics and his manager.

Middlesbrough manager Tony Pulis has categorically told Jordan Hugill to remove theatrics from his game, urging the striker he shouldn’t go down so easily.

"I don't like all that nonsense, that's got to stop and he'll know that now," said a visibly bemused Pulis after he’d seen his team’s stalemate against Stoke City.

Though the match ended 0-0, it could have easily been a victory for Boro had Hugill converted the chance he spurned in the 2nd half after going one-on-one with the Stoke keeper Jack Butland.

Still, while Hugill impressed the fans with his work rate, his manager was visibly frustrated with the theatrics of his main striker.

"I thought Jordan went down far, far too easily a couple of times today. I don’t want that as a manager. That’s not right. We’ve sorted that out after the game. I think he went down twice dramatically. I don’t like all that nonsense. That’s got to stop, and he’ll know that now."

Sky Pundit Praises Hugill

While Tony Pulis chose to take his striker to task for his dramatics, Sky Pundit Liam Rosenior believes the striker would have won the man of the match award had he scored.

After latching onto a through ball from Jonny Howson, Hugill shrugged off Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross and was one-on-one with Jack Butland.

However, while it looked as if the stars were aligned for the striker to break the deadlock, a superb save from the Stoke goalkeeper – who had come quickly off his line – thwarted the striker.

"If Hugill has more game time and is sharper, he tucks that away," said Rosenior after seeing the chance on Sky.

"Sometimes you can have too much time but you have to give credit to the keeper."

Apart from praising Hugill for the way he created that chance, Rosenior also praised his overall work ethic throughout the game.

"There was a lot of good to Hugill’s game - he held the ball up well, he was a strong physical presence and unselfish."

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"And if he scores that goal, we say he’s man of the match; not just because the goal he would he scored for but his effort."