Despite Stoke City’s abysmal record against Arsenal away, where their last win was actually at Highbury back in 1981, their manager Mark Hughes believes that his team is now ready to put that jinx to bed this weekend. The fact that they are preparing to face an Arsenal team that is unbeaten in the League since the opening day of the season doesn’t seem to bother him in the slightest!
“It’s going to be a tough task, we haven’t done great there in the past,” Hughes said. “Obviously in the past as a club we’ve struggled to get results at places like Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge, but we’ve been able to do that in recent times. This is the only one left standing so it would be great to get it out the way.
“Our recent form is good and we’re in good heart, so confidence is high, that is huge in football, so we’ll be able to benefit from that,”
“You do have to be a little bit careful because if you’re overconfident and you overextend yourself against good teams, then you can come unstuck.
“The key is that we remain solid and in a position to be able to win the game, clearly they are going to have opportunities in terms of the possession that they have.
“It’s up to us to restrict them to minimal chances and make sure we’re creating chances when going the other way.”
Eh? He’s worried about his team being OVERconfident at the Emirates? Is he being serious! They haven’t beaten us here for 35 years and we are currently in second place in the League table, and he is seriously expecting to win on our home ground! I think he may be in for a shock!
Sam P