Stoke City chairman Peter Coates has claimed that the thrashing of Liverpool on the final day of the season will help the club attract players this summer.

The Potters reached their highest Premier League points tally of 54 points by beating Liverpool 6-1 at the Britannia Stadium, and Coates believes that the club are in a strong position as Mark Hughes looks to improve his squad once again.

"It wasn't a bad way to end the season at all was it? Nobody foresaw such a convincing victory as that," Coates told Stoke's official website.

"Ending the season in the manner that we did has certainly helped. The more established you are the better the quality of players that you are able to attract.

"We have got a number of targets, but it is never easy to get them in. We are working on it though and hopefully we will be in a position to start the season with a stronger and better squad than we ended the last season with."

Reports on Tuesday suggested that Stoke were close to agreeing a deal to sign Yevhen Konoplyanka on a free transfer.