Stoke City boss Mark Hughes admits he was keen on Emmanuel Adebayor.

Adebayor has joined Stoke's FA Cup opponents Crystal Palace this week.

"We talked about Ade and his situation. But he's based in London. We knew early on that was where he was likely to end up, so we didn't pursue it to any great extent other than a conversation," said Hughes.

He added: "It's obviously a risk in terms of where he's at, I don't think he's had the benefit of working with groups in games or played in big games. Nobody really knows. That's the difference.

"You can do as much individual work as you like in terms of running and whatever, you can be physically fit, but are you match fit? There are two totally different things.

"I don't know if he'll be involved against us, but certainly if he gets up to speed quickly then he'll be an asset for them."