Milan Smit: Stoke City striker's relief at scoring first goals for Potters

Stoke City striker Milan Smit said it was "a relief" to score his first goals for the club and is glad that pressure has now been lifted.

The Dutch forward, 23, has had to be patient while he gets used to English football following his arrival on loan from Go Ahead Eagles at the end of January.

But in Wednesday's 3-3 thriller against Ipswich Town, Smit played a vital role, scoring his first goal to put them in front on 35 minutes, and staying cool from the spot to convert an injury-time penalty to clinch a point.

Afterwards, Smit told BBC Radio Stoke he was delighted to get off the mark in his eighth appearance.

"Yeah, of course, it's a relief. When you come as a striker into a new club, you want to score as soon as possible," he said.

"If you score your first goals, it takes a bit of pressure away.

"I hoped that I would score a few games earlier but you have to wait and trust in what you were able to.

"I know I can score goals. I knew it was coming, but I'm really happy that it was today."

Smit came to Stoke having scored nine goals in 25 games in all competitions for his parent club in the Eredivisie and Dutch cup this season.

And he said acclimatising to the English game has been tough.

"It's a big difference. If you watch the games here the intensity is so high in 90 minutes," he said.

"If you compare it to Holland, then the intensity is the biggest difference.

"Everybody's talking about the physicality, of course it's a difference, but it's not the biggest difference.

"The intensity running 90 minutes long, which I think that fits me. I'm getting used to it now, every game a bit more, so I'm settling in now."