Football
PA Sport 9y

Stoke has good balance of youth and experience, says Mark Hughes

Stoke boss Mark Hughes says he is happy with the way planning for the future of the side is going.

There has been talk of late about the age of Hughes' players and the need for him to soon bring more youth into the team.

Just before Christmas a study showed the Potters' squad had the third-highest average age, 28.1, of all those in the Premier League.

New contract extensions to 2017 were recently handed to Peter Crouch and Glenn Whelan, who are 34 and 31 respectively, and the star performers in last weekend's 3-1 win over QPR were 28-year-old Stephen Ireland and 31-year-old Jonathan Walters, scorer of a hat-trick.

However, two of Stoke's most influential players this term have been 24-year-olds in summer recruits Victor Moses -- on loan from Chelsea -- and the injured Bojan Krkic.

And Hughes has stressed not only that he feels the Staffordshire club have a "good balance" at present in terms of player ages, but also that work is very much ongoing with regard to the "succession plan".

The Welshman said: "If you look at our squad, I think we have a good balance. We have added good young players, who are the right side of 25.

"Obviously the likes of Crouch will push the average age up. But I think overall, if you compare our group to most groups in the Premier League we are not a million miles away."

Then asked if he was happy with the way the transition of the squad was going, Hughes said: "Yes. We are trying to get a succession plan in place, although it is not easy to do."

Stoke are in fine form as they head into Sunday's Premier League clash with Newcastle at St James' Park, with the QPR win their sixth in their last eight games in all competitions.

That has featured three victories on the road, including their last two away matches.

They will be looking to avenge a 5-1 mauling they suffered at the same venue last season, when Hughes saw two of his players receive red cards and was sent to the stands himself.

The 51-year-old has no doubt it will be another tough assignment against a Newcastle outfit currently working under head coach John Carver, who has been handed the reins until the end of the season and enjoyed his first win in the role last weekend.

But Hughes is in confident mood about the way his men are playing.

"It is never easy going to Newcastle, as we found to our cost last year -- and we hope the referee doesn't play a part the way he seemed to in that game," Hughes said.

"John Carver, as a proud Geordie, will be getting them up for the game, which adds to the difficulty. But we are playing well at the moment and enjoying going on the road. So we'll see what happens."

Stoke will be without skipper Ryan Shawcross for Sunday's match, with the centre-half set to be absent for the next few games because of a back problem that forced him off in the first half of the QPR contest.

Walters is a doubt due to a knee problem, although Hughes is hopeful the forward will be available.

^ Back to Top ^