Alex Neil praises ‘exciting’ Stoke after demolition of 10-man Rotherham

Alex Neil praised his “exciting” Stoke side as they demolished 10-man Rotherham with a 4-1 Championship win.

Maritimo recruit Andre Vidigal was the highlight of the Potters’ six debutants as he capped an impressive display with a brace.

“I thought we looked like an exciting team,” Neil said. “We wanted to start the season well because there’s been a lot of optimism and a lot of talk.

“But the talk was always going to stop, so to win in the manner in which we did was very pleasing.”

Ki-Jana Hoever, returning for a second loan spell at the club, emphatically volleyed in the opener inside five minutes, while Vidigal’s quickfire double in first-half added time then handed Stoke a comfortable lead.

The Millers threatened a comeback when substitute Lee Peltier scored with his first touch straight after the restart.

However, Cafu’s red card ended any hope of a Rotherham reprieve and Jacob Brown capitalised to add the hosts’ fourth late on.

Neil added: “I thought the first goal was excellent and that set the tone, so to go on and score four goals was something we didn’t do very often last season.

“And to do it with six debutants in the team and a few more new players who came on, that speaks volumes for where the lads are.

“To get some of the new guys to score and get some of the performances we got – and to win at home so emphatically – was very pleasing.”

Neil singled out new addition Vidigal for individual praise, with the winger becoming the first Stoke player to net a brace on his debut since John Tudor in 1976.

He added: “It’s hard not to pick him (as man of the match) because he scored two goals and he had a header in the second half which their keeper made a wonderful save.

“He was really effective in the game. You can see his hunger to get into the middle of the box and get a goal and that’s going to be vitally important for us this season.”

Rotherham boss Matt Taylor expressed his frustration in a difficult afternoon for his visiting side.

“It was a tough afternoon for us,” he said.

“They’re a good team and they got on the front foot and we struggled to get any aspect of control.

“We did well to keep it at 1-0 for a large period of the first half and I was pleased that we showed enough character to stay in the game.

“But then (conceding) two goals in quick succession is really frustrating and it looked like a mountain to climb.

“There’s lots to take from it in terms of where we have to improve, but character and personality-wise, we were better in the second half.

“A lot of teams go two or three behind and almost when you’ve got nothing to lose, you play differently when the pressure’s off.

“Mentally we had nothing to lose and we asked them to show a little bit more belief; they started to show it but when Cafu got sent off, it was a difficult one for us.

“We weren’t sharp enough, bright enough or good enough in that first half and we know we can be better.

“We’ve caught a good team on a very good day and a poor day for ourselves, but we know we can improve in certain areas.”