Stoke City boss Mark Hughes insists he still has confidence in Gianelli Imbula.

Imbula was dropped for the defeat at Crystal Palace last Sunday.

But Hughes said: “He played in midweek against Hull and played fine.

“He's an undoubted talent and there's no underlying issues, its football business. It's a little bit unfair, but all very predictable, as I say.

“We've got a good dressing room working hard to get results. We totally dominated against Hull and the only stat we didn't get right was the scoreline.

“To question the dressing room and individual players is totally wrong in my view. Maybe people think they can smell blood."