Stoke City manager Mark Hughes dismissed reports linking him with the top job at Everton as "speculation", as he looked ahead to Saturday's home game with relegation-threatened Sunderland

SOUNDBITE: (English) Mark Hughes, Stoke City manager (on Stoke's recent slump in form and how he expects his players to react aginst Sunderland):

"On paper, they were all difficult fixtures, in fairness. Obviously, the concern from our point of view and the disappointment was the margin of defeat we were exposed to, so we need to address that. The game against Sunderland is a difficult one again because they are fighting for their lives. It's a huge game for them, but I'm hoping that will help us to get back on track. It's a high intensity game of significance and the players should be ready for that."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Mark Hughes, Stoke City manager (on speculation linking him with the manager's job at Everton):

"It's... it's just speculation. I don't encourage that, to be perfectly honest with you, certainly not whan sombody is in a position... I've had that done (to me) myself in the past when I've supposedly been under pressure at clubs and I hear other manager's names bandied about and I didn't appreciate it then, so I don't want to be part of that to be perfectly honest."