Mark Hughes: 'Stoke City defeat is hard to take'

Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has admitted that his side's defeat to Hull City in the EFL Cup is "hard to take" after they conceded a last-minute goal at the Britannia Stadium.

The Potters - who currently sit bottom of the Premier League table - had taken an early lead through Marko Arnautovic but goals from Ryan Mason and Markus Henriksen heaped more pressure on Hughes, who has seen his team win just once in seven games in all competitions this season.

The 52-year-old is quoted by BBC Sport as saying: "For us to then lose it right at the end is a bitter pill to swallow, I have to admit.

"We were by far the better team on show, we were the only team trying to make things happen and unfortunately, despite creating 23 shots at goal, we scored one and they managed to score two of their four or five - it's hard to take."

Stoke are back in action on Saturday when they host West Bromwich Albion.