Mark Hughes demanding more from Marko Arnautovic after Middlesbrough double

Mark Hughes has challenged Marko Arnautovic to channel his inner striker after the Austrian's double inspired Stoke to victory over Middlesbrough.

Arnautovic scored his fourth and fifth Premier League goals of the season as the Potters deepened Boro's relegation fears, but Hughes was left wanting more.

"We know what Marko can give us, when he's in that form and mood he's difficult to stop," the Stoke boss told Sky Sports.

"His general play was good but at times he frustrates because he doesn't seem to want to score as much as he should do. That's something I cannot quite fathom, being a former striker.

"He enjoyed the moments today and maybe he'll get a taste for it. His goals were great and he was a big part of the performance."

The 2-0 victory at the bet365 Stadium lifted Stoke up to ninth in the division and saw the club bounce back from last weekend's mauling at Tottenham.

Hughes admitted it was a comfortable display but was still full of praise for his side's professional application, adding: "We're pleased, we've bounced back quickly and it was important to do that.

"I didn't have any doubts with this group of players because they are honest and were disappointed with our performance last time out so we improved today.

"We got the reaction we wanted, it was a very important win and performance - it was good all round. We took the game away from them in the first half with two great goals from Marko.

"In the second half they have nothing to lose so they chucked a lot of people forward and we had to deal with ball s into our box, which we did.

"If we had taken our moments in the second half we could have made the game more comfortable but we were never under too much pressure and we were in control."