Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has admitted that he is relieved that his side have finally secured their first win of the Premier League season, despite not playing as well as they have done in previous matches.

Mame Biram Diouf's late winner secured a 2-1 victory for the Potters over Bournemouth in their seventh league game of the campaign to lift Stoke out of the relegation zone.

Hughes admitted that his side did not play as well as they have in defeat on occasions this season, but praised his side's courage after it looked as though they were going to surrender the lead in the second half.

"It was an important win," he told reporters. "I would say that we have arguablye played better in other games and got beaten, but this was about getting the three points. We have got that off our backs and now we can play with a bit more freedom.

"We played with a bit of apprehension in the second half which allowed them back into the game, but we showed good courage after that as it would have been very easy for Bournemouth to gain momentum after their equaliser but we didn't allow that."

Next up for the Potters is a trip to face Aston Villa at Villa Park next weekend.