Stoke City are in the relegation zone after a torrid start to the new season and Danny Murphy has been discussing their hopes and Mark Hughes’ future.
Stoke manager Mark Hughes
The Potters have just three points so far and are yet to win a game as they sit second bottom of the Premier League table.
It is a far cry from last season when they finished ninth and played some fantastic football with players like Marko Arnautovic, Xherdan Shaqiri and Bojan Krkic strutting their stuff.
There were signs of a recovery when they came from 1-0 down to draw with Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United at Old Trafford last time out.
Their poor start has heaped pressure on boss Hughes, who former Liverpool star Murphy played under at Fulham.
Mark Hughes worked with Danny Murphy at Fulham
But speaking on talkSPORT, Murphy has warned the club not to do anything rash over his former manager’s future while reserving special praise for one of his new signings.
“When they went 1-0 down after their recent results, and the amount of stick they’ve had, the reaction was magnificent and I think that was a group of players who are still thoroughly behind the manager and I don’t see Stoke having a relegation battle this season if they continue to play like that,” Murphy told talkSPORT.
Stoke City’s Joe Allen celebrates
“A special mention to Joe Allen because I’ve seen him three times this season for 90 minutes and he’s been the best player each time I’ve watched him.
“He moved to a lesser club and you can feel a bit sorry for yourself for a while and he hasn’t, he’s said ‘I’ll be the big fish here, you get me the ball’ and I’d like to give him a mention because he’s shown some real character and hunger.”
If the club are to turn their season around they could not have wished for a better run of fixtures with seven consecutive games they are well capable of winning.
Turning it around? Mark Hughes
A crucial early season six-pointer against the only side below them in the table, Sunderland, is next up after the international break.
That is followed by a trip to Hull City, a home match against fellow strugglers Swansea City and trip to another side down the bottom West Ham.
They then have two home games against Bournemouth and Burnley sandwiching an away trip to Watford.
Conversely if they fail to step up for that run it could make for a long hard season at the Bet365 Stadium.
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