Friday 20 October 2017 12:58, UK
Mark Hughes says he retains the support of the Stoke City board ahead of Saturday's game with Bournemouth, despite last weekend's 7-2 defeat at Manchester City.
The result leaves Stoke in 17th place ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash, but Hughes says lessons will be learned from their Etihad humiliation.
He said: "What we have here are owners who understand football and who understand there isn't a straight line between success and failure.
"There's ups and downs, peaks and troughs - you have to navigate your way through those. If you've been in the game a long time, as our owners have, then they've seen that and they understand that.
"We didn't perform anywhere near what we know we are capable of, however, we came up against a side at the very top of their game.
"We're not in denial. We didn't perform how we would have liked. We will learn from the match, but I'm sure we won't be the last going up against Man City at the moment to find it difficult."
Despite their lowly position in the standings, Hughes is confident a potentially easier run of fixtures can spark an upturn in fortunes.
He said: "We've come through a very difficult period and now we face a better set of fixtures and have an opportunity to climb the table.
"We are only one win away from the top 10. It's very early days and we are positive going into the rest of the season.
"We should look forward to our next set of fixtures and aim to pick up maximum points from them."
Hughes said Bruno Martins Indi will not play this weekend, Xherdan Shaqiri is a doubt with an ankle problem, while Ryan Shawcross is "close" to a return and Joe Allen will feature.
He added: "Joe Allen looks okay. He's trained for a couple of days this week and we feel he will be back on Saturday.
"Xherdan Shaqiri has sprained his ankle so is a doubt. Bruno Martins Indi is out, as is Tom Edwards who hasn't trained this week."
