Stoke City manager Mark Hughes believes that Aston Villa will have a boost of confidence heading into Saturday's Premier League match in the Midlands due to Tim Sherwood's arrival.
The former Tottenham Hotspur coach was appointed as Paul Lambert's replacement last weekend and will take charge of his first official game tomorrow.
"Inevitably there will be a new manager bounce," Hughes said in today's press conference. "It's a case of players wanting to impress. There's a little edge and an increase in work rate and focus. We'll be prepared for that. We have to be. They had a good win last weekend which will have lifted them too.
"Tim Sherwood comes across as a very positive guy and he will have been working on their positive thinking, but we've been doing okay. We've had a couple of poor results but prior to that we were doing okay."
The Potters are currently 10th in the league table, while Villa are in the relegation zone.
Danielle Joynson
