Saturday 16 August 2014 19:02, UK
Stoke City boss Mark Hughes says his side’s transfer business has concluded for this transfer window, despite their 1-0 home defeat to Aston Villa.
The Potters confirmed the loan signing of Chelsea’s Victor Moses on Saturday – a few hours before their opening day defeat by Villa at the Britannia Stadium.
An Andreas Weimann goal was enough to give Villa the three points, and Hughes insists he will not be forced into making any panic signings.
“We don’t expect to do anything more. It’s a case of working with the group that we have got,” the Welshman said.
“Victor’s a good young player and hasn’t had many opportunities in the past couple of years. He’s got pace and he’s got power, and that’s what we need.”
Hughes admits that Villa were tactically superior in Saturday’s clash and believes his side need time to gel - with new boys Bojan Krkic, Mame Diouf and Phil Bardsley failing to have an impact on the game.
“In fairness to them, they came and had a game plan. They worked hard at it and made it difficult for us to play the way we wanted to play. We have to accept that,” he said.
“When you concede the first goal in the Premier League, that’s a huge disadvantage and that really played into their hands. It was more difficult for us because they were able to sit back and we had to be cleverer in our play, show more guile in and around their final third and we weren’t able to.
“That was difficult for us but it’s a learning process. We have a number of players that haven’t been with us for long and we need to work with them. It was a day that we expected to do better but credit to Villa – they got the goal, got their noses in front and were able to see the game out.”
Bojan arrived in the summer with a lofty reputation, having been touted as a future star during his days at Barcelona. However, the Spaniard failed to shine on Saturday and Hughes believes the 23-year-old needs time to adapt to the Premier League.
“I thought he did OK. In the second half we didn’t find him in the areas where he can do the most damage and that was true for a number of our creative players,” Hughes admitted.
“We need to find a way to get the best out of his ability that he undoubtedly has.”
