Mark Hughes slams reports that striker Wilfried Bony is causing unrest in the Stoke dressing room
Potters head into their must-win clash against West Brom rock bottom of the Premier League
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STOKE CITY boss Mark Hughes has dismissed talk he is unhappy with on loan Manchester City striker Wilfried Bony.
Rumours that the Potters dressing room are not impressed with Bony’s work-rate surfaced on Friday.
But Hughes made it clear he does not not have a problem with the player.
The Stoke boss fumed: “Let’s nip that in the bud straight away.
“Unfortunately at the moment we are a little bit fair game for easy headlines.
“It’s all very predictable. Player unrest, problems in the dressing room… they all come up at this time.
“It’s totally untrue.
“Wilfried’s come in and had a really positive impact on the group and we are delighted with his character.
“In terms of what he’s been able to produce on the pitch, he hasn’t played too many games in the last two or three years and he’s getting up to speed.
“To say we are questioning his attitude is totally wrong, so we need to stop that straight away.”
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Hughes also defended record signing Gianelli Imbula who has also struggled for form in a side that is rock bottom of the Premier League.
Imbula was dropped for the defeat at Crystal Palace last Sunday.
But Hughes said: “He played in midweek against Hull and played fine.
“He’s an undoubted talent and there’s no underlying issues, it’s football business.
“It’s a little bit unfair, but all very predictable, as I say.
“We’ve got a good dressing room working hard to get results.
“We totally dominated against Hull and the only stat we didn’t get right was the scoreline.
“To question the dressing room and individual players is totally wrong in my view. Maybe people think they can smell blood.”