Mark Hughes has admitted his relief after seeing Stoke City beat Luton Town on penalties in the League Cup.
The Potters scraped through to the third round of the competition on Tuesday following a 1-1 draw at Kenilworth Road.
Stoke face a trip to Hughes's former club Fulham in the next round.
"I think the the obvious feeling is relief," the Welshman is quoted as saying by ESPN. "We had opportunities to win the game, we were 1-0 up with 90 minutes gone, about 40 seconds left and we allowed them the one chance that they needed.
"They deserve credit because they kept going and were competitive. They had one chance and put it away. You're thinking at 1-1 we're making hard work of this, but thankfully we came through extra time without ever really, on the night, creating enough chances for the play that we had.
"In the end we're grateful to go through on penalties and that was the order of the day, to progress in the competition."
Stoke return to Premier League action on Saturday when they host West Bromwich Albion.
Jack Prescott
