Mark Hughes begins his third season at Stoke City having steered them to ninth placing for the second year running.

Sunderland appointed their third foreign manager in a row but Dutchman Dick Advocaat showed that he had the knowhow to guide them to safe waters.

Advocaat followed in the footsteps of Gustavo Poyet (Uruguay) and Paolo di Canio (Italy). The Black Cats secured survival in the penultimate match of the season, finishing three points above the relegation zone.

Although Hughes lost his best player, Spaniard playmaker Bojan Krkic to injuries in the last phase of the campaign, the former Manchester United stalwart relied on Charlie Adam and the other players as Stoke amassed a record total of 54 points in the Premiership.

Hughes commented on the highs of the past season, outlining the 3-1 home win over Arsenal, and the 6-1 demolition of Liverpool.

At the Britannia Stadium, Stoke won 10 games and drew three but they lost six, including upsets to Burnley and Leicester.

Jonathan Walters fired in the first Premier League hat-trick by a Stoke player against QPR.

Adam was voted player of the season.

Advocaat earned Sunderland a lifeline by keeping them in the top flight.

The 8-0 drubbing at Southampton was humiliating for the Sunderland fans, leaving Poyet walking on a tight rope.

Yet, Sunderland showed character to bounce back and avoid the drop with a late flourish under Advocaat.

Goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon (ex-Manchester City) was picked as player of the season.

After their wins over Wrexham at home and Rochdale away, Stoke succumbed to Blackburn Rovers away 1-4 in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

In the League Cup, they went down to Southampton away in round four.

In this competition Sunderland found a stumbling black in Stoke at home in the third round.

In the FA Cup, Sunderland faced the ‘might’ of tournament giant-killers Bradford City (conquerors of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge), going down away 0-2 in the fifth round.

Stoke City

August
H vs Aston Villa 0-1.
A vs Hull 1-1 (Shawcross).
A vs Manchester City 1-0 (Diouf).

September
H vs Leicester 0-1.
A vs Queens Park Rangers 2-2 (Diouf, Crouch).
H vs Newcastle 1-0 (Crouch).

October
A vs Sunderland 1-3 (Adam).
H vs Swansea 2-1 (Adam pen, Walters).
A vs Southampton 0-1.

November
H vs West Ham 2-2 (Moses, Diouf).
A vs Tottenham 2-1 (Bojan, Walters).
H vs Burnley 1-2 (Walters).
A vs Liverpool 0-1.

December
A vs Manchester United 1-2 (Nzonzi).
H vs Arsenal 3-2 (Crouch, Bojan, Walters).
A vs Crystal Palace 1-1 (Crouch).
H vs Chelsea 0-2.
A vs Everton 1-0 (Bojan pen).
H vs West Brom 2-0 (Diouf 2).

January
H vs Manchester United 1-1 (Shawcross).
A vs Arsenal 0-2.
A vs Leicester 1-0 (Bojan).
H vs Queens Park Rangers 3-1 (Walters 3).

February
A vs Newcastle 1-1 (Crouch).
H vs Manchester City 1-4 (Crouch).
A vs Aston Villa 2-1 (Diouf, Moses pen).
H vs Hull 1-0 (Crouch).

March
H vs Everton 2-0 (Moses, Diouf).
A vs West Brom 0-1.
H vs Crystal Palace 1-2 (Diouf).

April
A vs Chelsea 1-2 (Adam).
A vs West Ham 1-1 (Arnautovic).
H vs Southampton 2-1 (Diouf, Adam).
H vs Sunderland 1-1 (Adam).

May
A vs Swansea 0-2.
H vs Tottenham 3-0 (Adam, N’Zonzi, Diouf).
A vs Burnley 0-0.
H vs Liverpool 6-1 (Diouf 2, Walters, Adams, N’Zonzi, Crouch).

Sunderland

August
A vs West Brom 2-2 (Cattermole, Larsson).
H vs Man. United 1-1 (Rodwell).
A vs Queens Park Rangers 0-1.

September
H vs Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 (Johnson, Kane og).
A vs Burnley 0-0.
H vs Swansea 0-0.

October
H vs Stoke City 3-1 (Wickham, Fletcher 2).
A vs Southampton 0-8.
Home vs Arsenal 0-2.

November
A vs Crystal Palace 3-1 (Fletcher 2, Gomez).
H vs Everton 1-1 (Larsson).
A vs Leicester 0-0.
H vs Chelsea 0-0.

December
H vs Manchester City 1-4 (Wickham).
A vs Liverpool 0-0.
H vs West Ham 1-1 (Gomez).
A vs Newcastle 1-0 (Johnson).
H vs Hull 1-3 (Johnson).
A vs Aston Villa 0-0.

January
A vs Manchester City 2-3 (Rodwell, Johnson pen).
H vs Liverpool 0-1.
A vs Tottenham 1-2 (Larsson).
H vs Burnley 2-0 (Wickham, Burnley).

February
A vs Swansea 1-1 (Defoe).
H vs Queens Park Rangers 0-2.
H vs West Brom 0-0.
A vs Manchester United 0-2.

March
A vs Hull 1-1 (Rodwell).
H vs Aston Villa 0-4.
Away vs West Ham 0-1.

April
H vs Newcastle 1-0 (Diouf).
H vs Crystal Palace 1-4 (Wickham).
A vs Stoke 1-1 (Wickham).

May
H vs Southampton 2-1 (Gomez 2 pens).
A vs Everton 2-0 (Graham, Defoe).
H vs Leicester 0-0.
A vs Arsenal 0-0.
A vs Chelsea 1-3 (Fletcher).

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