Photo: James Baylis – AMA/Getty Images

Stoke City boss Mark Hughes has revealed he loves Diego Costa’s approach to the game because he was also like Costa during his days as a footballer.

“People criticise him or question his approach but I was a bit like him in my attitude to going about my game,” said Mark Hughes. “Sometimes he gets his retaliation in first, which is probably what I did too.

“There are certain traits he displays that I quite admire, and I haven’t got a problem with that, whereas others have.

“He very quickly finds out what defenders don’t want to do. I seem to recall doing that. I wondered, ‘Is this defender going to fight me, get tight to me, or drop off me?'”