Stoke City boss Mark Hughes says there'll be no kid gloves for their young prospects in preseason.

Hughes says Stoke are closer than they have ever been in his tenure to blooding youngsters, with Julien Ngoy and Thibaud Verlinden both promoted to the first team party and eight others joining the group on a pre-season trip to Switzerland.

He said: "We've pushed a few up into the first team senior environment. I think that's what these young players need now. It's ok playing Academy football and stepping into the under-23s but really you need the demands that senior players place on young players.

"Senior players have to be able to trust players in certain situations to do the right things. Clearly that is what I need too. I need to have that confidence too if and when I play them in the first team.

"Part of the process is being around senior players and if there is the need to be told in no uncertain terms that they're doing the wrong things or taking the wrong options, that's what happens within our senior group. They probably haven't been exposed to that so much in the past and it's part of their development."