Saturday 25 February 2017 14:25, UK
Mark Hughes admits another heavy defeat to Tottenham Hotspur is possible, with Dele Alli's midweek red card bad news for his Stoke City side.
Stoke face Spurs on Sunday, live on Sky Sports 1 HD, having been thrashed 4-0 at home in each of the last two meetings between the clubs.
Tottenham have played out three games in the time since Stoke last had a fixture on February 11 though, and were knocked out of the Europa League at the hands of Gent on Thursday.
Hughes believes Alli's dismissal makes things harder for his Stoke team at the Britannia Stadium.
"It was a poor challenge and he was rightly sent off - I think everybody agreed with that," Hughes said of Alli who, like Harry Kane, has scored three times in the last two games between Stoke and Tottenham.
"Looking at it from a purely selfish point of view, he only played about 40 minutes so he's going to be fresh for our game.
"It is what it is. He's an outstanding young player who at times maybe goes into challenges that he shouldn't do.
"But a lot of players do similar things and he will learn from experience I'm sure."
Stoke's most recent 4-0 drubbing by Spurs came in September during a sequence in which Hughes' team failed to win any of their opening seven Premier League games of the season, losing four of them.
The Potters head into this weekend's clash at White Hart Lane with their previous six league matches having featured three victories - including a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace last time out - and only one defeat.
"We have improved markedly since that game [in September]," said Hughes.
"I would be very surprised if the result was the same - although there is a possibility, because they are a good side.
"But we'll have to make sure we play well to make sure that doesn't happen.
"I would imagine if we start brightly, then that is the key to it. Hopefully we'll be nice and bright, sharp and ready to go."
