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Mark Hughes hits back at booing fans and makes Stoke promise
MARK HUGHES insists the goals will come for Stoke's £12million signing Saido Berahino.
Stoke boss Mark Hughes was criticised for subbing off Saido Berahino last week
Berahino, 23, hasn't scored for the Potters in 10 appearances since his move from West Brom in January.
The former England Under-21s star hasn't netted in any game for almost 14 months, since scoring for the Baggies in a 3-2 win against Crystal Palace on 27 February last year.
Fans booed Hughes' decision to take Berahino off against Hull last week but replacements Jon Walters and Peter Crouch combined to turn the game in Stoke's 3-1 win.
It wasn’t he was playing poorly, but we needed to change our approach
Stoke go to relegation-threatened Swansea tomorrow and boss Hughes said: “I think everybody can see he’s getting stronger.
“He needs a goal, that’s what all strikers need to settle into a club. He’s been close in recent weeks and it’s only a matter of time.
“We are convinced he will score goals before the end of the season, and even if he doesn’t he will be in good shape for next season.
“He will probably be disappointed when the season ends because he’s just starting to get going.”
Stoke beat Hull 3-1 last weekend
On-loan Manchester City striker Wilfried Bony has two goals in the same number of Premier League appearances as Berahino but has been frozen out of Hughes's plans in recent weeks.
Hughes added: “Wilf, at the beginning of the season, was a signing we felt could affect what we were doing at the top end of the pitch.
“He isn’t our player whereas Saido is, so maybe there’s a difference.
“Saido needs to get up and running and we wouldn’t have spent what we did if we didn’t feel he had the ability to score goals.
“Moving forward, Saido will certainly score the goals.”
Saido Berahino (left) is yet to score for Stoke
Hilarious moment DOG runs onto pitch and stops football match
Hughes also defended his decision to take off Berahino against Hull.
“Maybe people thought he deserved a few more minutes because he was getting close, but that’s a decision as manager I have to make,” he said.
“It wasn’t he was playing poorly, but we needed to change our approach.
“My view was Jon and Peter would give the opposition a different problem and you want your subs to have an impact, and they did that.
“It’s not a reflection on how Saido was playing. Far from it, he was having one of his more effective games.”
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