Mark Hughes: 'We showed courage'

Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has praised his side's determination after they fell to a 4-2 defeat at league leaders Chelsea this afternoon.

The Potters twice came from a goal down to level the scores, but were quickly undone by Willian for the Blues' third before Diego Costa added gloss to the scoreline in the dying minutes.

"It's a similar story to our efforts at Liverpool. We got back level, but then conceded poor goals. We've made mistakes and good teams punish you," Hughes told BBC Sport afterwards. I thought we did really well, showing courage to get back in the game. I thought we were good value to get a draw, but we can't keep on making the mistakes we are at the moment because it's hurting us.

"We were positive, got back level and it was up for grabs. For their third goal, the ball went through about four of our players. We can't keep defending as we are in key moments. If we take that out of our game, we will be fine.

"Mistakes happen, the opposition can affect what you do. You have to understand the time, the moments of the game."

The result left Stoke 14th in the table ahead of a home encounter with Watford on Tuesday night.