Hughes demands response from lacklustre Stoke

Stoke City boss Mark Hughes sayshis side are focused
on returning to winning ways ahead of their League
Cup clash with Chelsea on Tuesday.

Mark Hughes was keen to forget Saturday's 2-0 home defeat to
Watford, immediately turning his attentions to Tuesday's
League Cup clash with Chelsea.

Goals from Troy Deeney and Almen Abdi either side of half time
were enough to secure an impressive win for Watford and
condemn Hughes to defeat on his 100th game in charge of the
Britannia Stadium club.

While full of praise for Watford's performance, Hughes insists
his side are focused on returning to winning ways on Tuesday
when they take on an out-of-form Chelsea.

"I think Watford have been doing well," he told reporters after the
game.

"We talked about their threat and their energy and their good
defensive work because they don't concede too many goals and
we've seen first-hand today why they don't.

"They're disciplined, athletic at the back and can get round the
pitch.

"We didn't have enough on the pitch to really affect that and that
doesn't happen very often here [at the Britannia] and I don't
anticipate that it will happen in the future.

"It wasn't a performance that I recognised. The good thing is
that we've got a big game on Tuesday and that's the perfect
game for us because we can get back on track."

Stoke were dealt an early blow inside 10 minutes when Geoff
Cameron limped off, but Hughes insists his side cannot use
injuries as an excuse, before hinting that Ryan Shawcross could
return in midweek.

He added: "I think it's fair to say that probably disrupted us but
we can't hide behind that, there were good players on the pitch
and they should have done better.

"Ryan was in my thoughts for Tuesday anyway so that doesn't
change my thinking."