MY PLAYERS LET ME DOWN SAYS HUGHES

MARK HUGHES took a verbal swipe at the Stoke players who ended his reign in humiliating fashion.

The Welshman (above) gave an FA Cup chance to several on the edge of his squad, but they let him down at Coventry, leading to the axe finally falling on him.

Players such as misfiring Saido Berahino – who still has not scored for Stoke – could have rescued their boss, but instead produced appalling misses.

Hughes said: “I’ve given a number of players a go. It’s fair to say some didn’t play to their maximum potential, if I can put it that way.

“That can be confidence, that can be a loss of form, that can be any other number of factors.”

The former Manchester United striker was planning to tell chairman Peter Coates that signing two or three players would help to turn things around – as well as men returning from injuries.

Stephen Ireland, who had been out for 20 months with a horrific foot injury, made his comeback at Coventry.

Hughes believed that the club were “too stretched” during the period that ended in him losing his job. But the away fans were lacking in sympathy at Coventry, unveiling a ‘Hughes Out’ banner then setting off red smoke at the end of the game.

Cruelly, Hughes’ former Manchester United teammate, Coventry boss Mark Robins (below) – who idolised him as a young player – finished off his reign in the Potteries. When the Stoke team bus rolled out of the Ricoh Arena, it seemed fitting that it was surrounded in darkness.

The only light that could be seen was from TV monitors – but Stoke players would not have wanted to watch the news as they made headlines for the wrong reasons.

It was a 50-mile journey that ended in Hughes being relieved of his duties after the board had stayed loyal to him for so long in troubled times.

A run of five Premier League defeats in seven games – plus this embarrassment - made his position untenable.

Midfielder Joe Allen said: “You can imagine what the mood was like in the dressing room.

“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves and wallow in self-pity.

“Preparations begin now for a huge game at Old Trafford next Monday.”