Soccer-Stoke manager Hughes sees positives in Burnley defeat
Dec 13 (Reuters) - Stoke City manager Mark Hughes saw plenty of positives from his side's 1-0 Premier League defeat by Burnley on Tuesday and has told his players to deliver the same kind of performance against West Ham United at the weekend.
Hughes has come under pressure with Stoke having won just four of their 17 league games and the club hovering three points above the relegation zone.
A late goal from Burnley's Ashley Barnes condemned Stoke to their ninth defeat of the season but Hughes is already focusing on the Saturday's game against West Ham.
"The message after the game was, 'Give me that every time and we will be fine.' I'm looking forward to the weekend already because I think we will see more of the same," Hughes said.
"There's a little bit of dissension at the moment, we understand that ... The only way to keep the noise down is to continue to get performances out of the team ... and turn negative results into positive ones.
"We have got a big game at the weekend and we need everyone behind the guys. They are working hard and we need a bit of luck and a bit more from referees."
To add to Stoke's woes, Kurt Zouma limped off in the second half at Turf Moor and Hughes said the on-loan Chelsea defender could miss their next two games.
(Reporting by Aditi Prakash in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford; )
