Assistant manager Dave Kemp revealed after Stoke City's last-gasp victory against Aston Villa that Tony Pulis had rushed back from his mother's funeral to watch most of the 2-1 win.

Pulis was expected to miss the whole match but raced back from south Wales to take his place on the touchline after half time.

He then watched his side hit back from 1-0 down to win the game thanks to goals in the last ten minutes by Kenwyne Jones and Robert Huth.

Kemp said after the match:"It's typical of the man that on a sad day like this, he wanted to get his overalls on and get out there to help get us an important result.

"That's why he is a great manager of this football club and there is no doubt that his presence in the second half gave everyone a boost, players and supporters alike.

"The result won't change what has been a terrible loss for him, but he is so desperate to do well for this club and he showed how much it means to him today.

"He got here early in the first half and we started getting calls to the bench. He took the paint off the wall with his half-time talk and we were delighted with the way that the players responded to it in the second half to get this vital result.

"We started the game well, but we conceded a poor goal and we allowed that to affect us over the remainder of the first half which is probably not surprising.

"But the players showed great characters in the second half and I thought we made the good fortune which led to us turning the game around late on."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email