Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has admitted that they were deservedly beaten by Sunderland this afternoon.

Connor Wickham's fourth-minute opener sent the Black Cats on their way to a 3-1 win at the Stadium of Light in which his strike partner Steven Fletcher scored twice.

Hughes has confessed that conceding so early in the game left the Potters with a difficult task if they were to continue their unbeaten away record, and feels that Sunderland were the better of two poor teams.

"We didn't deserve anything out of the game," he told reporters. "We got off to a bad start and in away games in the Premier League you have to give yourselves a platform. We got back in it but the next opportunity they created they get another goal.

"It wasn't the best game in the world. On the day it was poor from arguably both teams but we were poorer than Sunderland. Every time we allowed them an opportunity they took it so congratulations to them but we weren't at the level we needed to be at.

"We were probing, had a vast amount of possession but didn't have that cutting edge. We've played a lot better than that. They've picked up three points and in all honesty we haven't made it that difficult."

Charlie Adam scored the reply for Stoke, who are 15th in the table following the result.