Muniesa: Pivotal December

MARC MUNIESA believes December could be a pivotal month for Stoke City to stamp their authority in the top half of the Premier League table.

The Potters started the month brilliantly with a 2-0 victory over Burnley on Saturday and now face five games within the next four weeks – including away trips to Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea.

Muniesa claimed his first ever Premier League goal in the triumph against the Clarets to cap off an impressive return to action and helping City achieve back-to-back wins and successive clean sheets.

“After four seasons here, I finally have my first Premier League goal. It’s an amazing feeling and I feel really happy,” the Spaniard said beamingly to stokecityfc.com.

“The action started in our own half, I gave it to Gianelli [Imbula] who forced a counter attack and gave it Marko who had the chance to go one-on-one with their defender.

“As soon as I saw that, I knew he was going to do it well and cross it, which is what he did and I had the chance to shoot and thankfully score which was really nice.

“It was a really good day for me but more importantly for the team because of the win and another clean sheet.

“We’re back in the top half at the moment with five tough games against top teams coming up, so we will need to be strong if we are to show people that we are capable of moving higher in the table.

“We are in a very good mood at the moment and everybody will be needed, so we need to keep this momentum going.”

Muniesa made his first start of the Premier League campaign in the recent win at Watford, coming in for captain Ryan Shawcross who has been nursing a minor calf injury.

The Spaniard has been one of several outstanding performers to have taken an opportunity in the Potters side and in-turn hand manager Mark Hughes a nice selection headache.

“It’s not just me, there are four or five players who haven’t had many chances this season but have now got that opportunity,” he added.

“We are all performing well, we are winning and we are making any team decisions for the manager very difficult.

“We have a squad of 25 players, everyone can play in this team, which is good for us as a group and it’s also a nice problem for the manager.”

Source: stokecityfc.com