Mark Hughes is treading rough waters at Stoke City, even though he may not want to admit it.
Stoke are 15th in the league table, and the team is only two points away from being in the relegation zone. Another couple of poor results would drag the team down into the bottom three, depending on how other results go.
But the manager is not panicking. Some fans want him sacked, and the atmosphere at the team's home games has not been very good. But Hughes is adamant that he can steer the ship to calmer waters.
"The owners are fans, they are the biggest fans if you judge by what they've done for the club," Hughes said.
"If they see a committed performance, if they see players working hard and running as much as they possibly can, which is what they saw on Tuesday night, they will be happy."
"Because they know, if you work that hard over a period, you will get results. They have been in the game a long time, they know it's not always a smooth path."
Hughes may not have as much time as he believes, and the games against West Ham, West Brom and Huddersfield will go a long way toward determining his future. Two or three defeats, and he could get the sack.
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