Mark Hughes claims Stoke are back on track after ending their losing streak
Sunday 24 December 2017 15:51, UK
Mark Hughes claims Stoke are back on track after ending their losing streak with a home win against West Brom on Saturday.
Five defeats in the previous six fixtures had dragged the Potters towards the relegation zone but the 3-1 win over Albion ended a three-match losing run and was just a second success in nine Premier League games.
Hughes' four years as manager at Stoke has brought three successive ninth-placed finishes, before a drop down to 13th in the table last season.
The Welshman thinks Stoke should be one of the clubs competing to finish in the top 10 and the win against West Brom keeps them in contention to do so once more.
"Those are the standards that we set ourselves before the season begins and for whatever reasons we have struggled to get points on the board as regularly as we have in other seasons, but it is our intention to address that," said Hughes.
"It's not as if we have tailed off, we are very much near the area that we want to be in - just three points off the team in 10th place.
"If we get a fair run now in terms of injuries, because (against West Brom) we were stretched defensively in terms of the players I had available, and a little bit of luck then hopefully we can push on and move up the table."
