Hughes: Stoke only want quality

Cape Town - Stoke City manager Mark Hughes says the club will only enter the transfer market for the right player to improve their first team.

It's been a quiet off-season for the Potters with no new arrivals at the Britannia Stadium to date, but Hughes feels after three consecutive ninth-placed finishes, they need to add quality now and not quantity.

"We want the quality of the group to improve, raise us to the next level and take us to the next step going forward," the Welshman told the club's official website.

"What we have here is continuity and longevity, I've been here three years now and we have a number of players who have been here right from that offset.

"That's the advantage we have here, we're trying to build on the work we're doing and progress at the right rate. We're not trying to throw huge amount and getting a large number of players in, we want the right players coming in at the right time.

"We are addressing key areas and positions that we feel we can improve on and if the right players become available then we will be interested."