Mark Hughes criticises Troy Deeney after Watford v Stoke bust-up

Stoke manager Mark Hughes was disappointed with the 'unpleasant' actions of Watford's Troy Deeney after a late bust-up in his side's 1-0 win at Vicarage Road.

Darren Fletcher scored the only goal of the game in the first half, giving Hughes' men a much-needed three Premier League points, but a late flashpoint threatened to overshadow the visitors' victory.

After Stoke had put the ball out of play for an injury, Deeney shaped to cross the ball back into the opposition penalty area for his team-mates to attack instead of giving the ball back.

He was met by an angry Joe Allen and Ryan Shawcross, with Deeney wrapping his hands around Allen's neck, and Hughes criticised the Watford striker afterwards.

Hughes told Sky Sports: "We're a little bit disappointed with Troy Deeney and his reaction.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

"Obviously we've kicked the ball out because there were injured players, and they should've given the ball back to us, but they shaped up to put it in our box - which was not in the spirit of the game, and that's why our players reacted. It's not pleasant when you see that.

"He's grabbing him by the face, it's not what you want to see. As I say, our reaction is understandable because we were the aggrieved party, but it hasn't covered him in any kind of good light, in my view.

"I think we need to avoid situations like that, and he brought it on himself really."

Hughes, who has come under criticism himself in recent weeks having won just once in eight games, says Stoke got it spot on tactically at Vicarage Road, and insists his side are doing "exceptionally well" this season in the context of their fixtures.

"It was a great performance as an away side. Tactically, we got it spot on," he added.

"It was very difficult to break us down, and I just think we understood what they were going to do. We had a game plan to negate their threats, and they ran out of ideas in the end. Over the course of 90 minutes, we had the better chances.

Live Premier League

"We've had a little bit of criticism, and rightly so. Certainly against Man City, we didn't put in an accomplished performance.

"We got it out of our systems this week, and I thought we were excellent. It's been a tough period of fixtures, but for like-for-like results, we are six points better than we were last year against the same teams.

"Everybody says we're under pressure, thinking we're not doing very well. Well, actually we're doing exceptionally well."

Play Super 6

Simply predict six correct scores to win the £250k jackpot. Enter your selections for free here.