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Mark Hughes Admits Disappointment After Stoke Twice Throw Away Lead Against Brighton

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Stoke boss Mark Hughes has admitted that his side must do more to protect leads, after they twice threw away a one-goal advantage against Brighton on Monday night. 

The Potters' inability to see out the game cost them at the Amex, but Hughes insisted that he and his men would go away from the south coast pleased with a point on the road.

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"It's an away point in the Premier League," he told Sky Sports after the game. "You have to be happy with that. I don't think they created too much of note. I'm probably disappointed in terms of the goals we conceded.

"There were opportunities, certainly with the first one, to nip things in the bud. We missed a couple of tackles on the edge of the box which allowed them to get the ball into a good idea.

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"They got a little bit of luck with the ball going through (Lee Grant's) legs but in general play overall, I thought we were very much in control of the game. They didn't really affect us too much in terms of an attacking sense so an away performance, I suppose you have to be happy with that.

"I'm slightly disappointed we twice got into winning positions and weren't able to see the game to a conclusion but overall, a point is good so we'll take that."

Hughes also spoke about the progress his team has made in the past few weeks, and insisted that the Potters' league struggles have been due to wastefulness rather than a fundamental lack of quality. 

"I just think in terms of what we try to do and the way we manage games," he said, "that's something which has become more evident in our play in recent weeks. We've got guys who, if we put the right balls in the right area, they'll get on the end of them.

"We're probably guilty at times of getting in good positions and not producing the quality of ball those guys need. At set plays I thought our delivery was okay but in general play that maybe let us down on a couple of occasions. We had good situations and we didn't produce that ball we wanted.

"We are more resilient though. That's two away games recently and we haven't been beaten so I think that augers well for games ahead of us."