Hughes gets early present with win over struggling Baggies

MARK HUGHES had said that defeat here would not cost him his job. We will never know if his pre-match faith was justified. Somehow, Stoke weathered a secondhalf West Brom storm to cling on to a precious victory.

First-half goals from Joe Allen and Maxim ChoupoMoting had put the Potters and their under-fire manager in the box seat but when the wasteful Salomon Rondon finally found the net it set up a nervy final 40 minutes. Forget sub Ramadan’s injurytime third – this was tense.

A run of one win in eight had left the home side a point above the drop zone following last weekend’s 3-0 home defeat by West Ham which had supporters calling for Hughes’s head.

Had the Welshman been granted an early Christmas wish, he may well have asked Santa to ensure the Baggies were their next opponents.

Albion had not won in a club-record 17 games, although current boss Alan Pardew had been in charge for just four of them. That run continues, but it was not for a lack of trying.

‘At times you’ve got your heart in your mouth,’ admitted a relieved Hughes, before adding that chairman Peter Coates had paid a visit this week to stand by his manager. ‘He’s been in reassuring everybody that it is business as usual. I didn’t really have any doubts about it but I’m confident after this week.’

West Brom’s fans launched into an early chant of ‘Tony Pulis, he’s coming for you’, amid reports their own recently-departed boss could be set for a return to the Bet365 should the axe fall on Hughes. The mickey-taking did not last.

There appeared to be little danger when ChoupoMoting’s pass deflected off Ahmed Hegazi into the air. However, it dropped to Peter Crouch, who volleyed low and hard across the box, where Allen guided the ball home.

Rondon then wasted a good chance before Allen set up Choupo-Moting to make it 2-0 right on half time.

On 51 minutes Rondon finally found the net with his seventh shot of the afternoon after Chris Brunt’s pass. Stoke retreated, chances came and went for the visitors. In injury time Butland punched a Jonny Evans header against Rondon but it drifted wide.

A Stoke break sealed it. Mame Biram Diouf and Choupo-Moting setting up Ramadan to tap home The roof almost came off. Coates will have smiled.