Mark Hughes was thrilled by the control his Stoke side showed against Aston Villa
Saturday 3 October 2015 18:56, UK
Mark Hughes was delighted by the control of his Stoke side as they beat Aston Villa 1-0 at Villa Park.
Marko Arnautovic scored the only goal of the game after the break as Stoke moved five points clear of the drop zone following a second league win in as many games.
Hughes was particularly pleased with the way his side managed to dictate the pace of the game and the manner in which it was played.
"We're pleased, this is always a difficult place to come as an away side," he said.
"I wanted us to show control today, I think in a couple of home games we've allowed teams to really dictate to us in terms of control.
"But I though today we were excellent, particularly in the first half, in terms of keeping the ball and taking the sting out of the game but still being progressive in what we were trying to do and creating chances.
"Arguably the first 45 minutes was the best we've played in terms of control."
The former Wales manager's only criticism of his side was that they were unable to add to their solitary goal, but believes his side never looked like conceding.
"Second half they made a change in formation and system and that helped them a little bit but they never really carved us open and even when they did I thought the back four and Jack Butland were excellent today," Hughes added.
"They needed to be on occasions but I always thought we were a threat on the break as well.
"If we're honest, if there is one criticism of the guys today, we probably should have won more comprehensively because we had any number of great breaks that should have allowed us to score more goals.
"But we got the winner and that's what we're happy about. Marko Arnautovic made a good run - he should score more goals for us actually, but this season he is getting more into key areas of the field and taking chances now and that's good for him."
Hughes confirmed that Mame Biram Diouf, who was stretchered off towards the end of the match, has a hip problem and that he will be assessed before a decision is made over whether he will report for international duty with Senegal.
It was the international break itself that most irked Hughes, who feels they provide an unnecessary interruption to the league season.
"I've been complaining about the international breaks to be perfectly honest because I just think it fragments the season and it is a little bit stop-start for everybody," he explained.
"This is a big one, hopefully we can get it out of the way and then there is another one in November and then hopefully it will settle down and everyone can see who is going to have a decent season and maybe who is going to struggle."
