Stoke City boss Mark Hughes hinted sacrificing their game at Chelsea as they were thrashed 5-0.

Hughes made six changes in all and played 18 year-olds Tom Edwards and Josh Tymon at full back so he can field a much stronger starting 11 against fellow strugglers Newcastle on Monday.

He explained: "We were stretched today. What we had defensively in terms of personnel was what you saw.

"We had two young lads playing at a level way above where they have been playing in recent years and the back four pairing (Geoff Cameron and Kevin Wimmer) haven't played together from memory.

Hughes continued: "But clearly we made a poor start. Collective and individual errors. We have played the reigning champions, so we knew they had quality to hurt us and that was with our best 11.

"So I made decisions I feel will help us with the game we have on Monday. I rested a number of players carrying slight knocks, so they will be fresh to go and some of the guys today needed to play and have been banging on my door.

"They were decisions I was prepared to make going into the game against Newcastle . If we get the win I hope we will get it will be a good return over Christmas."