Stoke City's wonderful three-match winning run in the Premier League was brought to an unceremonious halt after they suffered a 1-0 defeat against West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns over the weekend.
Apart from the result, what would have been even more disappointing for the Potters' fans was their side's woeful display on the day and it is fair to say that Stoke could not have any complaints about coming away from their trip to the West Midlands empty-handed.
Manager Mark Hughes was also left unimpressed by the performance his players put in but remained optimistic and stated that he expects the Potters to bounce back ahead of the final nine games of the season.
Hughes told the Stoke Sentinel: "Invariably we bounce back after a bad performance and that's what we will do again now.
"We've got to take this defeat on the chin and we've got to start producing performances again in the final nine games of the season and we will do that.
"It was disappointing because this was an opportunity to get four wins on the bounce, but we weren't able to do that. When key players don't hit the levels they need to it's difficult to win games. We can't afford to carry anybody. Arguably, we had six or seven players who under-performed."
