Chico Flores is the man football currently loves to hate. But while West Ham’s Andy Carroll may not be a fully paid-up member of his fan club, the defender at least dragged one notable erstwhile enemy back onside.

The centre half found himself booed by the home crowd from the first whistle at the Britannia Stadium but shrugged off those barbs to win himself a few welcome brownie points from inside his own camp with a delicate second-half header that earned his side a deserved point.

After all, Flores must have thought he had picked a row with the wrong man when his opponent in a training ground bust-up last month, Garry Monk, turned out to be Michael Laudrup’s replacement.

And while no-one can blame him for trying to avoid Carroll’s recklessly swinging forearm at Upton Park 11 days ago, the manner in which he slumped to the turf endeared him to few.

And those in north Staffordshire were certainly not among them.

However, Flores went a long way to making amends for any altercation with his current boss by providing the platform for Monk to build on his status in South Wales, a reputation that was enhanced by the three-goal drubbing handed out to Cardiff City last weekend.

And so it was that the out-of-season pantomime villain dragged his team back into a game that appeared to be slipping beyond them after Peter Crouch’s 17th-minute opener.

‘He was my man of the match, said Monk, ‘I thought he was absolutely magnificent today. He was a rock. He passed the ball, he was solid. It was a great header too, a bonus.

‘He gave the team a lift. It gave Ashley Williams a lift. He was the best player on the pitch. Especially with the way the crowd were from the first minute.

‘I didn’t expect it from them. But if he plays like that when they boo, they can carry on.’

Asked if he had been unfairly vilified in the wake of the affair with Carroll, Monk replied: ‘We all love a villain, don’t we? Chico is big enough to deal with it.

‘He’s going to get some stick. If there’s some stuff I need to chat with him, then I’ll chat with him.

‘It’s about educating people. It’s not about telling anyone off, just saying it’s a different culture. West Ham made a big deal of it. They are still going on about it.

‘But I think he rose to the challenge. It didn’t affect him. He was a colossus tonight.’

Monk was also not afraid to stand up for himself after Cardiff City boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer alleged that Jonathan de Guzman had gone to ground too easily after Craig Bellamy caught the midfielder during the clash at the Liberty Stadium at the weekend.

Bellamy has been charged for the incident and is facing a three-match ban. Swansea’s interim manager suggested that there were other goings on that deserved close scrutiny.

‘I saw Ole answering the question, saying my man had made a meal of it,’ he said. ‘De Guzman received an elbow to the back of the head and has just gone down normally. I don’t see how that’s an over-reaction.

‘I’d have more concerns if he looked at a corner in the 35th minute. Wayne Routledge has been butted and punched in the face by Kim. If anything I’d be more concerned about something like that than saying Jonathan has dived.

‘If you look at Wayne, he’s been headbutted and punched in the face. He stays on his feet. He doesn’t make a meal of it. Ole needs to look at his own players before he starts commenting on mine.’

Stoke struck first when Charlie Adam showed his new-found desire by reaching a high ball ahead of a cluster of purple-shirted opponents, 30 yards from Michel Vorm’s goal.

Crouch picked up possession and selflessly fed Peter Odemwingie, on his outside. The shot from the former Nigeria forward smacked into the foot of the post.

It rebounded somewhat kindly to Crouch who sent the ball goalwards once more. It entered the net after taking a fortuitous deflection off Leon Britton.

Despite the conditions, Swansea continued to play. And they prospered when Pablo Hernandez’s corner was half-cleared to the same player who crossed. Flores twisted his body and his deft deflected defeated Asmir Begovic.

Stoke manager Mark Hughes said: ‘Once we got our noses in front, we hoped to have gone on. Performance wise, it wasn’t one of our best.

‘On reflection because of the lack of control, we can’t complain too much, although we did have two penalty appeals which didn’t go our way.

‘Having said that, it would have been harsh on Swansea although given the return from the last three games, I can’t be too disappointed.’

—Daily Mail