Stoke City boss Mark Hughes has sympathy for Arsene Wenger over his rift with a section of the Arsenal support.

It is fair to say his relationship with Emirates counterpart Wenger is, at best, cordial.

Yet Hughes still felt for the Frenchman when an angry hate-mob turned on him after Arsenal's 3-2 thumping at the Britannia Stadium in early December.

Hughes, 51, said: "Absolutely, I have sympathy for Arsene when he gets stick like that because we can all get that.

"There is no middle ground any more in football. You are either at the top or at the very bottom.

"Touch wood, I haven't had that sort of thing here in the last 18 months - but you do have sympathy because we all know that a run of bad results will mean it turns on you."