Mark Hughes and Eddie Howe agree that Stoke upturn is imminent
Mark Hughes remains confident about Stoke's prospects despite them having made their worst ever start to a Barclays Premier League season.
Hughes' men head into Saturday's home clash against Bournemouth having taken only three points from their six league games so far, and they are still looking for their first top-flight win of 2015-16.
The Welshman has no doubt a points boost is required swiftly, but is not panicking about what he has seen so far.
"I don't think our performances are too much of a concern," Hughes said.
"We haven't got as many points as we would like, but for the most part I have been reasonably happy with the main part of our performances.
"If we look back we can maybe console ourselves in terms of what we produced in some of the games, even though we have also made individual errors.
"We view ourselves as a middle-to-top team in the Premier League, and at some point in the season you will get a run where you go four, five, six games without a win.
"It is about the end of the season, and we are confident.
"We know we are a good side at this level, and hopefully we'll get the points on the board that our performances merit, starting tomorrow ."
Hughes has guided Stoke to ninth-placed finishes - the highest they have come in the Premier League - in both of his two seasons in charge so far and insists something similar this term is still very much the aim, even as they sit 18th at the present time.
He has pointed to the fact the Potters went through a couple of significant winless runs in their first campaign under him, and added: "We are a little bit behind, but not by much and we can make up the difference. We have plenty of time."
The Potters have forward Mame Biram Diouf and midfielder Charlie Adam available again after the former recovered from minor injury problems and the latter completed a three-game ban.
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe is in agreement that Stoke will soon pick up and is not treating the opposition like relegation battlers.
"When I have reviewed Stoke's games I have been very impressed," Howe said.
"They don't look like a team that haven't won yet. They are the kind of side that you will see in a few weeks and they will be in a very different position.
"But we don't need to worry about that. We know that if we are at our best levels we can beat anyone in this league, so it's down to us.
"The performance against Sunderland was good, but we will prepare for Stoke on an individual basis.
"We are not at the stage where we can start to group games together. We want points from every game."
Bournemouth have enjoyed an encouraging start to life in the top flight.
Wins over West Ham and Sunderland, as well as a draw against Leicester, mean the Cherries sit 14th and they scraped past Preston on penalties in the Capital One Cup third round on Tuesday.
A second consecutive league victory against Stoke could see Howe's side climb into the top half but they will have to do it without captain Tommy Elphick and midfielder Harry Arter, who are both injured.
"Both Tommy and Harry are still out," Howe said.
"Tommy has flown to Sweden to get an update on his injury and Harry is still continuing his rehab.
"Harry has had a little niggle this week, not on his original injury, so it's just a case of letting that settle down. But that's only natural when you've been out for the length of time that he has."
Source: PAR
