Stoke do not want to sell Crouch, insists Hughes

Stoke City boss Mark Hughes insists he does not want to sell out-of-favour striker Peter Crouch in the January transfer window.

The 34-year-old has been at the Britannia Stadium since 2011, but has not started a single Premier League match this season.

Crouch has only made three substitute appearances in the league, totalling 44 minutes on the pitch, but Hughes insists that he wants to have the experienced forward in reserve in case of injuries.

"Peter has been unfortunate that he has had a couple of injuries – he is just coming back now," said the manager.

"He has had a week's training and was not ready to be involved over the weekend [against Everton], but he is a big part of what we do here.

"He is going to get game time at some point. We are going to need everybody so he is very much in my thoughts.

"There is a little bit of speculation about players going out. I am not encouraging it, to be perfectly honest.

"We have got a big period, which we are right in the middle of now, where we have got a lot of significant games and we are going to need everybody.

"We know, unfortunately, that things change very quickly. You can get two or three injuries in the same position and you become a little bit stretched."

Stoke have enjoyed a productive season thus far and are set to face Manchester City in the semi-final of the League Cup later this week, with defender Erik Pieters claiming that the club are aiming to win a trophy in the coming months.

"I am happy to stay with this club," the 27-year-old told the Stoke Sentinel. "It has given me confidence, it has given me security as well and I think all is good with me.

"I am here until 2020 and of course I would like to mark that time with a trophy. Everyone is playing for trophies.

"I hope that I can keep going to reach a new level and I hope Stoke can as well. Hopefully we can grow as a team and as a club."