Hughes and Pulis fell out in September when the Fulham boss refused to shake hands with his counterpart following a rash tackle by Andy Wilkinson on Moussa Dembele at the end of a Carling Cup win for Stoke. Pulis then gave Hughes a taste of his own medicine after Fulham's win at the Britannia Stadium in the league last month but the two managers pressed the flesh both before and after the Cottagers' 2-0 win on Saturday. "We were just two daft Welshmen a couple of weeks ago," said Hughes after watching Clint Dempsey's double edge his side closer to safety. Despite their public reconciliation, there looked to be some needle between their players on the pitch, but Hughes added: "It was low key in that respect." Fulham were full value for the win, in which top scorer Dempsey netted his eighth and ninth goals of the season. The second came from the penalty spot after Ryan Shawcross had bundled over the American, earning a straight red card. Pulis disputed the dismissal, saying: "It looked as though Dempsey was on the way down. "Dempsey's a very clever player but, if you're the referee, you give it. "The disappointing thing for me is they get the penalty, the kid gets sent off, and we lose him for two games. "The punishment does not suit the crime there. It's very harsh for the club and for the kid. "It's not a reckless or poor challenge, or a nasty challenge. But he's missing for two games." Pulis added: "He was sent off at Sunderland as well, so he'll miss the (FA) Cup match and Liverpool. "We've got six games, five away from home, for the next three weeks." Hughes hailed the contribution of Dempsey, saying: "Sometimes you think Clint's not having an impact on the game, but he's had a positive influence in virtually every game he's played, with goals created or scored. "It was a great finish for the first, and a great touch to create the penalty by himself. He always has a positive impact." Saturday's win was Fulham's third in their last five league games, a run which has come just at the right time after they had been sucked into the drop zone. The recovery from injury of Dembele and Andrew Johnson, both of whom were a constant threat in this game, bodes well for Hughes. "Good win today - pretty straightforward in all fairness," he said. "We got the ball down, played our stuff and got the goals at good times. It was quite comfortable." He added: "We just knew we had to get over a period where results didn't quite go for us. "We just needed to get key personnel back, firing. "A great result against Stoke away from home, which really galvanised us, made us understand as a group what we needed to do to win games in this very difficult league. "From that point onwards, we've shown a lot of great qualities that gives me confidence that will obviously sustain the team." The one downside for Hughes was injuries picked up by Dickson Etuhu and Aaron Hughes ahead of Wednesday's trip to Liverpool. "Dickson must be a doubt on Wednesday, with tightness in his hamstring - Aaron too," Hughes said. "We think Dickson might have damaged that hamstring. Aaron had more of a spasm." Steve Sidwell is the most likely replacement for Etuhu, with the midfielder making his Fulham debut. John Carew also came off the bench for Stoke and Pulis said of his new striker: "His goalscoring record in the Premier League is excellent. "Kenwyne (Jones) has great feet and John's as good a target man as there is out there. We've got good options."
