Saturday 23 December 2017 00:06, UK
Stoke boss Mark Hughes has suggested some of his fellow managers at clubs towards the bottom of the Premier League are "untouchable".
Hughes finds himself under pressure with Stoke 17th in the table and just a point above the relegation zone, having lost five of their last six games.
It was reported this week that Hughes could face the sack if Stoke lose Saturday's home clash with 19th-placed West Brom, one of four clubs in the bottom seven to have made a managerial change this season.
But Stoke sit between two other clubs who have not done so - Rafael Benitez's 18th-placed Newcastle, beaten in eight of their last nine matches, and Eddie Howe's 16th-placed Bournemouth, winless in six league outings.
When Hughes was asked on Friday about the spotlight being on him while Benitez and Howe were also struggling for results, the Welshman said: "At the moment, it seems to be my turn.
"There's a lot of clubs down there that you'd argue aren't having the season they would've anticipated before it began.
"For whatever reason, a lot of those clubs have changed managers.
"This club hasn't, correctly in my view. So, maybe I'm just the next in line. Everybody else has gone and I'm the one that is last man standing!
"So it's my turn, so I have to accept that.
"There are others as well, probably in similar situations - but maybe they're untouchable."
Hughes stressed that he feels there is no better candidate to manage Stoke than him, saying: "Not in my view, not in my view."
And the manager also dismissed the suggestion that Saturday's game might be his last, adding: "I don't think that is where we are at.
"The media will set timelines and time tables on it, but that's not what is happening within the corridors here in my view."
