Stoke's Hughes irked by Pulis handshake snub

REUTERS - Stoke City boss Mark Hughes believes West Bromwich Albion counterpart Tony Pulis showed him lack of respect by failing to offer a handshake following the Baggies' 1-0 win on Saturday.

Relationship has soured between the managers after it was revealed that striker Saido Berahino, whom Stoke bought from West Brom in January, had served an eight-week suspension for "an FA disciplinary matter" allegedly for an "FA disciplinary matter".

"I was there for quite some time, and didn't leave the pitch area. There was no handshake at the beginning of the game either," Hughes told Sky Sports.

"I always think as a visiting manager, I am a guest of their club, then they should be a gesture. I don't think so (any bad blood). Not to any great extent. It has been a difficult week for everyone connected to the situation.

"It is important for us as a club and for Saido to get on with what we have to do and continue to work hard to get Saido back to the level he is capable of, and the only way to do that is to get him back playing games."

Pulis, however, played down the incident.

"I shook hands with Eddie ( Niedzwiecki, Stoke first-team coach) and Mark was walking away towards their supporters, so that was that," he said.

(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)