Under-fire manager Mark Hughes has claimed that he remains "the best person" to turn around Stoke City's form and guide them to Premier League safety.
The Potters lost for the fifth time in seven matches on Monday afternoon when going down 1-0 to Newcastle United at the bet365 Stadium.
Pressure has slowly been building on the Welshman, with some reports suggesting that defeat in today's game against an equally-out-of-form Newcastle would likely spell the end of his five-year spell in the Potteries.
Hughes is still confident that he can turn things around, though, while also defending his decision to leave out a number of key men against Chelsea two days ago.
"We knew it was an important game and we came into it with the mindset of getting maximum points but we came up short," BBC Sport quotes him as saying. "We deserved something out of the game but we didn't get it, you've got to pick yourselves up and get on with it.
"In key moments we need to recognise when situations in the game are likely to damage us – but in terms of the team trying to force the issue clearly that was us. They had a little bit of joy down the right but we had chances ourselves - they just had more bodies behind the ball and played on the counter.
"From our point of view a number of elements need to be better but we went into the game with real intent and we haven't managed it today unfortunately. The players are frustrated, disappointed, but that's a consequence of the high standards that I've set here.
"Everyone's saying that I gambled [on my team selection] but I used the players that I had, what was I going to do? Risk players that had a big part to play today? Plenty of teams have made changes today, everyone else is doing it too. My future? Who else is going to do it? In terms of the knowledge of the group and the progress in my time here, I'm the best person to do it."
Stoke have now conceded the first goal of the game on 15 occasions in the Premier League this season - more often than any other team.
Daniel Lewis
