Hughes vow to quell the crisis talk as Stoke sink

THE words were delivered as straight as always — a call for faith, an acknowledgement that Stoke are ‘in a bit of a situation’ and a promise that Mark Hughes can and will steer his team in the direction of a fourth successive ninth-place finish. Delivering such a message from the Premier League’s relegation zone requires strong self-belief, especially after another horrid defeat. ‘We’ll be fine,’ Hughes said more than once during post-match questioning in which he also brought up the ‘c’ word to dismiss unspoken suggestions that Stoke are in crisis. Hughes has the most patient of bosses in Peter Coates, so it is the grumbles of supporters which need addressing urgently. With wins. ‘They are a little bit anxious and I can understand that,’ added Hughes, whose side were replaced in the bottom three by Everton yesterday. ‘They should have confidence in the players we have. They have a management team who have been in these situations before and been successful, so I don’t think they need to worry. ‘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.’ In Hughes’s defence, he has had key players injured. Ryan Shawcross, back after a lay-off here, was off the pace when he brought down Benik Afobe to concede a penalty converted by Junior Stanislas. It came two minutes after Andrew Surman’s opener. Stoke went up several notches as Mame Diouf scored and they should have had a penalty.

STOKE CITY (5-4-1): Butland 6.5; Johnson 5 (Crouch 58min, 6), Cameron 6.5, Shawcross 6.5, Zouma 7, Pieters 6.5; Fletcher 6.5 Allen 6, Choupo-Moting 7, Jese 6.5 (Berahino 80); Diouf 7. Subs not used: Grant, Wimmer, Afellay, Adam, Ramadan. Scorer: Diouf 62. Booked: None. Manager: Mark Hughes 6. BOURNEMOUTH (4-4-1-1): Begovic 6.5; Smith 7, Francis 7, Ake 7, Daniels 6.5; Ibe 6.5 (Pugh 86), Surman 7.5, L Cook 7 (Arter 76), STANISLAS 8; Mousset 7 (S Cook 61, 5.5); Afobe 7. Subs not used: Boruc, Gosling, Wilson, Fraser. Scorers: Surman 16, Stanislas 18 (pen). Booked: L Cook. Manager: Eddie Howe 6. Referee: Lee Probert 7. Attendance: 29,500.