Mark Hughes says Stoke took advantage of Tottenham's lack of confidence to record an impressive 2-1 Premier League victory at White Hart Lane on Sunday.
Goals from Bojan and Jon Walters saw the Potters reach the interval two goals to the good, with Mauricio Pochettinoi's side struggling to create chances.
The hosts rallied in the second half and hit back through a fine volley from Nacer Chadli, though Kyle Naughton's straight red card ended their hopes of an equaliser and handed Stoke their first win in four games as the Potters jumped above Spurs to ninth in the table.
"Maybe there's a little bit of pressure on the Tottenham players at the moment and we sensed if we started quickly we could use that to our own ends," Hughes told his postgame news conference.
"Spurs are a good team, individually they have some great talent, but we got our shape and structure right and understood what it takes to take a positive result away from home -- which we've struggled with.
"Our plan was certainly to use the counter-attack. There were certain areas of the pitch we were able to exploit. Spurs like to get their full-backs forward so we thought we could get behind them in those areas."
Pochettino's high-tempo style of play worked wonders last season at Southampton but the Argentinian has struggled to replicate the results with Spurs' players so far, though Hughes has backed the under-fire coach to succeed.
"Every manager has his own philosophy and wants their team to play in a certain manner," he added. "When you're a manager and you've had success, you have to back your principles and stick with it.
"You don't change and I'm sure he won't do that because he's a good manager and he'll get things right at Tottenham I'm sure."
Information from the Press Association was used in this report.