COATES TURNS THE SCREW ON SPARKY

Owner demands a big improvement as Stoke slide backwards

OWNER Peter Coates has urged Stoke to right the wrongs of last season as he seeks an improvement from top to bottom.

After three successive ninth-placed finishes under Mark ‘Sparky’ Hughes (above right), the Potters paid the price for a lacklustre beginning and end to the previous campaign, finishing 13th.

Hughes, the fourth longest-serving boss in the Premier League, retains the backing of the board – but his task has been made more difficult by the loss of Marko Arnautovic to West

Ham.

And while Darren Fletcher, Kurt Zouma, Eric Maxim Choupo-moting and Bruno Martinsindi have the look of shrewd acquisitions, their signings have arguably lacked the sprinkling of stardust of previous summers such as Bojan and Xherdan Shaqiri.

Breaking through that glass ceiling never looks to have been tougher with today’s opponents being big-spending Everton.

It is a daunting challenge for the Potters and their boss, who has had mixed success in the transfer market, and has set £12million January arrival Saido Berahino a target of 15-20 goals. So has the pressure grown on Hughes? “We are all under pressure,” said Coates (below left).

“It’s a pressure game and that’s never going to change and we are all well aware of that and we have to handle it.

“This will be Mark’s fifth season. He has had three ninths and a semi-final – those were all big positives.

“We are confident in his abilities. We perhaps didn’t convert as many chances as we could have done and we are hoping to put it right this season.”