Carew defends Stoke style

Carew helped Tony Pulis' side reach the last 16 of the FA Cup - and a home tie with Brighton - by overcoming Wolves 1-0 at Molineux on his full debut. The tall Norwegian international, on loan from Villa for the remainder of the season, could be expected to thrive on Stoke's expertise at set pieces and the long throws of Rory Delap. But Carew is adamant there is more finesse to Stoke's method of football than is often portrayed. He said: "People say to me I must enjoy playing in this team because I get so many balls in the air. "But, first of all, I want to kill that rumour a bit because I think I got more long balls at Villa when I was playing there than here. "Here we also get the ball on the ground. We also have football players. "We can play the long ball as well when we need to but, even on a difficult pitch at Wolves, we still tried to play." Carew is also enjoying playing alongside Kenwynne Jones as opposed to sometimes operating as a lone central striker at Villa. He said: "It is a team that suits me as well and, with myself and Kenwynne up top, the job is not hard. Before it was only me. "I can run off him sometimes, because he will win the flicks as well, and we can create a lot of danger. "It is difficult for defenders to cope because the focus is on two and not one of us." Carew scored 11 goals in 10 FA cup appearances for Villa and last season helped them reached the semi-final of the competition in addition to the Carling Cup final at Wembley. He is optimistic of another return with his current employers in this season's competition. He said: "It would be fantastic to have another good cup run with Stoke and two more games and we are there (Wembley) again. "I played at Wembley twice last season. It would be a dream to come to Stoke and play at Wembley again. "I love this competition. It has gone well before and hopefully it will continue. "It was disappointing to lose the two games at Wembley - although playing there two times in one season is not too bad! "But, of course, it would be good to first get there and win this time and I think we have a good chance. "We have a lot of power, a way of playing which is very difficult for other teams to play against." Wolves midfielder Nenad Milijas, who had a last-minute penalty saved by Stoke keeper Thomas Sorensen, knows his side cannot afford to dwell on the cup setback with a relegation battle ahead. He said: "I really thought I was going to get the equaliser from the penalty. "I was really disappointed about the shot - I should have done better with it. "It was the first penalty I've missed in my career - since I was a child - and I've taken a lot. "But now we need to forget about this game and concentrate on Bolton on Wednesday. "We need to think about taking points there to help us stay in the Premier League. "That's the most important thing for us, the fans - everyone."