Stoke City

Mark Hughes: 'Martin Atkinson should not referee this weekend'

By Daniel Lewis, Senior ReporterPublished: 01 December 2017 5:45 PM

Mark Hughes admits to still being "angry" with Martin Atkinson's decision to only show Simon Mignolet a yellow card in Stoke City's defeat to Liverpool.

Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has hit out at Premier League officials for giving Martin Atkinson another game to referee this weekend.

The 46-year-old whistler waved away Stoke appeals for a red card to be shown to Simon Mignolet after he tripped Mame Biram Diouf in Liverpool's 3-0 win at the bet365 Stadium on Wednesday night.

However, Atkinson will be back in action again on Saturday when officiating Watford's home league match against Tottenham Hotspur.

Hughes remains bitter about the potentially pivotal decision, which he believes cost his side a chance of getting anything out of the game.

"I don't see why he should be refereeing this weekend," he told reporters. "My feelings reflect everybody else's view: the referees who reviewed it since and everybody in the stadium, apart from one.

"Those are the decisions that frustrate me as a manager - and other managers. Why it wasn't made I don't know. It was a pretty straightforward decision in my view and it wasn't made. It denied us an opportunity to have an advantage in terms of numbers. I am angry with that."

Stoke welcome Swansea City to the Potteries this weekend, seeking a first win in five top-flight outings.