Hughes happy with right response

Mark Hughes was delighted with Fulham's thrashing of Port Vale in the Carling Cup, and reserved special praise for youngster Matthew Briggs. Hughes only made three changes from Sunday's 2-2 draw against Manchester United, with Briggs and £5m summer signing Moussa Dembele both making their first starts for Fulham.Zoltan Gera also came into the side and all three had a significant impact as Fulham outclassed the League Two side.Hungarian Gera and Bobby Zamora scored twice each and there were goals for Dembele and his replacement Clint Dempsey."It is important after games like this to make the headlines for the right reasons and we have done that because we approached it in the correct manner," said Hughes."We showed the competition the respect it deserves and I was really pleased with what we produced."There were some outstanding goals and some great finishes. There some really good progressive play and that augurs well for the future."I didn't want to make too many changes. It is early in the season and not the time of year to be resting players."I felt it was an opportunity to have a look at him (Briggs). I am trying to see what we have got in terms of quality."He is a young man I haven't seen a great deal of. I have been impressed in training and he acquitted himself really well."He was instrumental in the first goal with a great cross and he did himself no harm tonight."Port Vale manager Micky Adams, a former Fulham boss, was given a rousing reception from the Craven Cottage fans but the generosity ended there.Adams knew his side would be up against it the moment he saw confirmation of the Fulham team."As soon as we saw the team sheet we knew we would be in trouble," said Adams."A lot of the Premier League clubs last night made wholesale changes. Fulham for their own reasons picked their first team and it was always going to difficult."But we are disappointed. I think we are better than we showed tonight but we couldn't get near Fulham. They had pace and movement and it was too much for us."They are real athletes which is why they play at this level. We will lick our wounds and get on with it."I came back here with Brentford and Leicester. I think this is my first defeat since coming back."The place is unrecognisable from the one I first managed. There are even tiles in the bathroom and hot water."

Source: Team_Talk