Wednesday 11 February 2015 07:12, UK
Stoke boss Mark Hughes feels former club Manchester City need to win every remaining match if they are to overhaul Chelsea for this season's Premier League title.
Manuel Pellegrini's reigning champions have slipped seven points adrift of leaders Chelsea following a poor run in which they have claimed three points from the last four league matches.
If Stoke can complete a rare double over City on Wednesday, in tandem with a Chelsea victory at home to Everton, a 10-point cushion would likely be a bridge too far.
Hughes said: "It will be difficult for City, but still possible.
"They will have the advantage of having gone through it before, having chased for a long time but then at the end of the season coming through.
"So they will know it's possible. It's not as if they will think it's beyond them, so you just have to keep on going.
"They may well have to hope Chelsea slip up, and you sense they will be ready if they did, so certainly it's not over by any stretch of the imagination.
"A 10-point gap before Christmas doesn't worry teams, but you get to this stage of the season with 12, 14 games left, and it's a 10-point gap then it obviously becomes very hard.
"The more games chalked off the greater the difficulty City will find in terms of Chelsea slipping up.
"Arguably City probably need to win every game they have left to be able to overcome Chelsea, which is not beyond them, but that's probably where they see themselves."
Stoke's hopes of following up on the late-August 1-0 win at the Etihad Stadium are boosted by the fact Manchester City remain without talismanic figure Yaya Toure.
Following Ivory Coast's triumph in the African Nations Cup, Toure is not due to arrive back in the country until later this week.
In seven domestic games without Toure in the side - six in the league and one in the FA Cup - City have yet to win.
Hughes added: "We're aware of the stats concerning Toure.
"He's a huge influence on the group, and I don't think anybody is surprised by that.
"He's a game changer, even if the side itself is not functioning too well - and on those occasions when he isn't functioning too well - he still has the capacity to come up with an outstanding piece of individual skill that can win games for his team.
"There are very few players in the world who have that capacity, so when he's not available - and it doesn't matter what resources or other qualities you have at your disposal - you are always likely to miss someone who has that ability to change games."
