Espanyol Boss Refuses to Discuss Links to Stoke as Pursuit for Mark Hughes' Replacement Steps Up

Enpanyol manager Quique Sanchez Flores has refused to talk about his future amid speculation that he is in line for the Stoke job. 

The Potters sacked Mark Hughes on Saturday following a poor run of form - the final nail in the coffin being their FA Cup exit at the hands of League One side Coventry City on Saturday afternoon, and Sanchez Flores has emerged as a favourite for the vacant role. 

The former Watford manager is currently in charge of Spanish side Espanyol. He spent a year in England in charge of the Hornets, leading them to a 13th place finish in their first season back in the Premier League. 

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The Spanish manager led his side to the quarter finals of the Copa del Rey last night thanks to a 2-0 away win at Levante. With questions being asked about his future, Flores refused to talk about himself and deflected attention onto his current side. 

He told a post-match press conference as quoted by the Daily Mail: "I'm not going to talk about me on such an important day for Espanyol.

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"It's a day for Espanyol, for the club, for the players, it's a day to celebrate for having qualified for the quarters.

"I don't want to talk about me, but to enjoy these moments. I want to continue being happy with my profession.

"I'm very grateful to Espanyol, I've been frustrated sometimes because we haven't advanced as fast as desired, but that's because Espanyol haven't been able to, not because they haven't wanted to," he added.

"Right now we're not thinking about anything other than the game and Sunday's match against Athletic (Bilbao)."