Saido’s left to life on the bench
MARK HUGHES claims Saido Berahino cannot complain about being left on the bench.
Berahino has played just 26 minutes as a substitute for Stoke since his last Premier League start in September.
The evergreen Peter Crouch has been Hughes’ first option off the bench and the Stoke boss says the former West Brom striker must accept he is down the pecking order.
“Saido has just got to be patient and wait for his chance again,” said Hughes. “There’s always a decision to be made if he’s not starting.
“I’ve got the option of Crouchy to come on and sometimes he is the best option to disrupt the opposition. Sometimes Saido’s style and traits are more similar to the guys he would be replacing.
“He’s working hard. He’s doing the right things in training. He just needs to take his chances when he gets them.”
Berahino is desperate for the chance to end his goal drought, dating back to February 2016, at Brighton tonight and Hughes claims he still believes in him.
“It’s a bit frustrating for him because he will think he can’t show what he can do, he can’t score goals because he’s not in the team,” added the Welshman. “It’s a bit of a Catch-22 situation.
“But we’ve got him on a long contract and he‘s still a relatively young player. If he does the right things on a daily basis, then at some point it will turn round for him.”