Hughes eyes January sales

Mark Hughes is already planning a January spending spree as he looks to turn around Stoke City’s lacklustre start to the season.

The Britannia Stadium club, who face Swansea City on Sunday, sit 17th in the Premier League on nine points, having scored just seven goals in their 10 games so far.

And Hughes admits he will be looking to strengthen his squad when the window opens on January 1, having missed out on signing a recognised striker during the close-season.

“I think most managers will look at their group in the window and see if there’s an opportunity to increase the quality, if possible,” the Welshman said.

“I’m sure we will look and see if there’s players we can afford and that we need and that can stimulate the group.

“But I’ve said the capability of the players we’ve got is good and we are just lacking in goals. That hasn’t really been resolved.

“I said I was looking for a striker and we didn’t bring one in, apart from Marko who’s more of a wide player.”

But former Manchester City manager Hughes is well aware of the pitfalls of shopping in the mid-season, with clubs often having to fork out inflated prices to secure their targets.

“January isn’t a great window,” he admitted.

“Invariably you have to pay over the odds because teams don’t want to let their good players leave.

“It’s not easy to get the good players you want at the price you want.

“So we shouldn’t put all our eggs in the January basket because we have got enough players here to see the job done.”