Tuesday 19 September 2017 23:03, UK
Mark Hughes gave all the credit to Bristol City after seeing his Stoke side dumped out of the Carabao Cup at Ashton Gate.
After the 2-0 defeat at Ashton Gate put the Championship side into the last 16 of the competition, the Stoke boss said: "We were poor and they played very well.
"They will have a good season playing like that, but we have to be much better. I am very disappointed because this is a competition we wanted to do well in. Maybe I got the changes wrong, but I was expecting a lot more from my players.
"We changed systems in the first half because we were not coping with Bristol's forward play. There were chances for us either side of half-time and when you are not playing well you have to take them. We didn't do that either. I know we will be better against Chelsea on Saturday, but that isn't much consolation at the moment."
Hughes continued: "I don't know whether the players underestimated Bristol, but they were certainly warned not to. We just couldn't get our game going and they were better."
Hughes could hardly blame the six changes he made, as Bristol City head coach Lee Johnson made nine.
The Championship side took a 50th-minute lead when Matt Taylor raced onto an Aden Flint header forward. His low shot came back off a post, but Famara Diedhiou was on hand to net the rebound.
The same two players combined again 10 minutes later, Taylor racing onto Diedhiou's flick-on and firing low past Lee Grant with his left foot.
It took some fine Grant saves to prevent a heavier defeat for the Premier League side, who were second best for most of the game.
