Stoke City

Mark Hughes denies Stoke City "crisis"

By Barney Corkhill, EditorPublished: 23 October 2017 1:19 PM

Stoke City manager Mark Hughes rejects talk that the club are in crisis following their home defeat at the hands of fellow strugglers Bournemouth.

Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has dismissed claims that his side are in a "crisis", insisting that they will be "fine" this season.

The Potters have lost five of their last six matches across all competitions and have only won once in the Premier League since August 19, with Saturday's defeat to fellow strugglers Bournemouth leaving them outside the relegation zone on goal difference alone.

Stoke's next four matches come against Watford, Leicester City, Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace, and Hughes believes that they will be able to turn their form around during that run.

"It's not a crisis in my view. We are in a situation in terms of league position, but we do have good games coming up. We'll be fine," he told reporters.

"We are very rarely are in the bottom three when the season finishes and we always judge our season on what happens at the end of 38 games rather than eight or nine games.

"The fans have a management team that has been in these situations before and been successful so I don't think they need to worry. It's about letting good people get on with their jobs and coming through these periods."

Stoke have the worst defence in the Premier League this season, having conceded 20 goals from their nine matches.