Stoke City boss Mark Hughes was full of praise for Kenwyne Jones after his hat-trick in their Capital One Cup victory over Walsall.
Jones came into the Potters' starting line-up for the second-round home tie against Sky Bet League 1 outfit Walsall in one of eight changes made by Hughes from last weekend's 2-1 top-flight defeat of Crystal Palace.
Asked in his post-match press conference if, had he been out of the first team and then scored a hat-trick like that, he would be knocking on his manager's door, former striker Hughes said: "Absolutely - without a shadow of a doubt.
"He has made a statement tonight and that is what you want.
"I thought it was important that I respected the other guys in the group, so I made a number of changes in different areas. Kenwyne came in up front and played exceptionally well, I thought.
"His link-up play was good tonight - at times it can be a little bit loose, but I thought it was better tonight.
"I think he is enjoying the work he is getting, that it is helping him and three goals at any level, in any competition, is good by any standards."
Then asked if it should be expected that Jones would play on Saturday, Hughes said: "We will wait and see - we will see how he rocks up tomorrow."
