Hughes confident police will protect Stoke fans at West Ham
REUTERS - Stoke City manager Mark Hughes hopes the extra police protection for Saturday's match against West Ham United at the London Stadium will ensure the safety of supporters and is sure his team's fans will behave in the right way.
Following last week's violent scenes during the League Cup match against Chelsea, British media reported that lines of police officers will supplement stewards in keeping Stoke's travelling support segregated from the home fans.
"They're getting to grips with a new stadium, which may have caused them problems on a different level but they seem to be moving on," Hughes told reporters on Friday.
"Clearly they've had problems and some of the scenes look like they're from days gone by. We've been reassured that there is a different policy to address concerns we had. There will be more of a police presence in the ground and more segregation.
"We've got a fantastic following away from home and we're very proud of that - and how they conduct themselves. We hope the things that have changed will protect them on the day."
Hughes said winger Xherdan Shaqiri has a small chance of recovering for Saturday's match while confirming that the game comes too early for injured Geoff Cameron and Glen Johnson.
"He (Shaqiri) hasn't trained all week... We'll see how he is today and there may be a slight opportunity," Hughes said.
Stoke, 12th in the Premier League after 10 games, will look to extend their three-game winning streak when they face 17th-placed West Ham.
(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)