Hughes hits back at Bruce comments

03 March 2015 05:32

Stoke boss Mark Hughes has accused his Hull counterpart Steve Bruce of trying to "defend the indefensible" over Maynor Figueroa's tackle on Stephen Ireland, who is facing two to three weeks out as a result of the challenge.

The incident in Saturday's Barclays Premier League clash between the two clubs at the Britannia Stadium, which prompted no action from the officials at the time, left Potters midfielder Ireland with a huge gash in his calf that required "12 to 15 stitches".

Hughes claimed post-match that the tackle could have finished Ireland's career, said Tigers defender Figueroa should have been shown a straight red card, and was strongly critical of the game's referee Neil Swarbrick and his assistants.

Bruce subsequently hit back on Monday, suggesting that at the point the challenge was made, Ireland should not have been on the pitch as he should have been sent off himself for earlier making "the worst challenge on the pitch" on David Meyler.

The Hull manager also suggested the Figueroa incident had not even warranted a free-kick, adding: "He kicked the ball and followed through and unfortunately has caught his (Ireland's) leg."

But Hughes said on Tuesday: "I think Steve has fallen into the trap of trying to defend the indefensible.

"I think everyone has seen the two challenges and I didn't think there was any comparison whatsoever.

"I don't think Steve did himself too much credit in terms of his observations of the events of the day."

Figueroa will not be facing any retrospective action from the Football Association over the matter after Swarbrick's match report said he had seen the incident at the time.

And Hughes added: "It is very easy to try to defend your players and most managers do it - I'm probably guilty of it as well sometimes.

"But on this occasion, it wasn't as if the lad was going to be suspended - which is another debate as well - so why didn't Steve just come out and say it was a terrible tackle and that it shouldn't have happened? To try to defend it I think was incorrect.

"I just thought Steve didn't need to do that. He needed to come out and say it like it was."

Regarding Ireland's condition, Hughes - whose side host Everton on Wednesday night - said: "As you would imagine, he is unavailable. It is likely to be two to three weeks.

"He had to have internal stitches as well as external ones so, as a consequence of that, it is going to be a little longer than with a straightforward gash."

Stoke skipper Ryan Shawcross remains unavailable due to his back issue, although Hughes is hopeful he will be able to select the defender again in "a couple of weeks".

The Potters head into the Everton contest in fine form, with them having only lost two and won six of their previous 10 league games, including the last two.

They are currently 10th in the table on 39 points from 27 games and looking to better the Premier League club records achieved last season, when Hughes guided the Staffordshire outfit to ninth and a total of 50 points.

And the Welshman feels Stoke could even secure European football this term if they continue playing as they have been.

"We are still trying to improve on last year's total, and that was the aim," Hughes said.

"European football? If we continue, we have got an outside chance.

"Probably, if we were honest, we were not anticipating that we would be able to challenge for that this year.

"But certainly, once you get to this stage of the season, then if you are getting on a really decent run - and we feel we are in good nick at the moment and have the potential - you never know.

"Maybe some teams who started brightly are falling back. We have to continue to play as well as we have done, and if teams keep slipping up, we have to be ready."

Source: PA