Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has claimed that Manchester City may need to win all 14 of their remaining games to stand a chance of retaining the Premier League title.
Ahead of Wednesday's meeting with the Potters, the champions are seven points behind leaders Chelsea, and Hughes believes that another slip-up could end his former side's hopes of a third title in four seasons.
"You get to this stage of the season and start running out of games," the Stoke boss told reporters.
"A 10-point gap before Christmas doesn't worry teams. With 12 to 14 games left, it is more difficult. The more games chalked off, the greater the difficulty City will find.
"City will probably need to win every game they have left to beat Chelsea. It's not beyond them. They will never think it's impossible because they will always keep going."
City have not won any of their last five games in all competitions.
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