Southampton boss Mark Hughes has hit out at former club Stoke City.

Stoke chiefs Peter and John Coates have now admitted they should have removed Hughes sooner than his January sacking, in the wake of the Staffordshire outfit's Premier League relegation.

But Hughes said: "Well if that's what they feel now, hindsight's a wonderful thing.

"It was a difficult season. I'm a little disappointed maybe that the success that we had, I was there four-and-a-half years, it seems that part of their history, certain people want to airbrush the success that we had.

"It's there for everybody to see at the end of the day. I was their most successful Premier League manager.

"It didn't end like I wanted, nobody wanted that.

"But myself and everybody on my staff put their heart and soul into that job for four-and-a-half years, and I'm really, really sorry that unfortunately they've gone out of the league.

"But it can happen to almost any team in the league if you take your eye off the ball."