Stoke face tough test at resurgent Chelsea, says Mark Hughes

Mark Hughes feels Stoke would have stood a better chance of claiming victory at Chelsea if Jose Mourinho was still in charge.

Stoke travel to Chelsea on Saturday looking to win a league match at Stamford Bridge for the first time since April 1974. 

Hughes, who enjoyed three years at Chelsea as a player, has lost all three of his visits to his old club since taking over at Stoke in 2013. 

Marko Arnautovic scored the only goal of the game as Stoke beat Chelsea, then under Mourinho, 1-0 at the Britannia Stadium in November, a defeat that left the Blues languishing in 16th place in the Premier League table. 

However, Chelsea are yet to lose in the Premier League since Guus Hiddink succeeded Mourinho in the dugout in December and are now just eight points off the top four. 

"Going back as a manager hasn't been a great experience," said Stoke manager Hughes. "I've had some decent results, but more often than not I've come away with my teams beaten so we'd like to change that around.

"We are playing well at the moment, we're on a good run of form, which obviously Chelsea are as well so it will be a good match up. But obviously we've gone there in recent seasons and really haven't tested them enough, to be perfectly honest.

"We've been in the game for the most part, but they've had the quality to take the game away from us on most occasions since I've been here. It would be nice to change that around. Maybe two or three months ago if we had been playing this fixture, it possibly might have been easier.

"That would probably be a little disrespectful to them. They are a good side with outstanding players in every position and it'll be a big test. They certainly have turned their form around so we will see how it goes."