Mark Hughes at Stoke: QPR criticism will motivate me

Mark Hughes says criticism of his time at QPR will help motivate him to ensure he is a success as Stoke manager.

The Welshman, 49, has signed a three-year contract at Stoke just six months after being sacked by Rangers.

He endured a difficult 11-month spell at Loftus Road, winning only eight of 34 games in charge.

"I have listened to what people have said about my managerial ability and I can assure you I will use that as a motivation," he said.

"I've had something like 270 games as a Premier League manager, but people do tend to look at the last year or so.

"But I don't regret moving to QPR. A lot of managers have gone in there and found it difficult."

Hughes signed a dozen players last summer but failed to win any of his opening 12 league games of the season and was sacked in November.

Harry Redknapp took over but was unable to keep QPR in the Premier League.

Hughes conceded the London club had tried to do too much too soon and said he was aiming for steady progress at Stoke.

"If I am honest, we all tried to run there before we could walk," he said. "That was the mistake that we made. I made mistakes I will learn from."

Hughes, who will be joined at Stoke by coaches Mark Bowen and Eddie Niedzwiecki, said he expects the stable environment at the Staffordshire club - owned by Peter Coates for the last eight years - will prevent a repeat of the errors made at Loftus Road.

He said: "There is solid ownership at the club and you need that behind you to give yourself an opportunity to be successful."

The former Manchester United, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Chelsea striker aims to add an attacking edge to a Stoke team that only scored 34 goals in 38 Premier League games last season.

"It's not a case of wiping away all the hard work that's been put in place in previous seasons. That would be crazy," said Hughes.

A Stoke City fan stages his own demonstration against Mark Hughes' appointment

"But I would like to think I can make them a bit more offensive and maybe that's where the club hasn't helped itself in the past by not scoring enough goals."

Coates said Hughes was always Stoke's first choice for the manager's job.

"We had other interest, but we've only interviewed Mark. We focused on him, he was our choice. We went for it and it's happened," he told BBC Sport.

"It's only that part at QPR [that went wrong], up to that I don't know what he did wrong anywhere in terms of success rate at the particular football club he was in."

Coates wants Hughes to promote players from the club's academy as well as bring in new talent.

Previous manager Tony Pulis had paid large fees for players with little sell-on value, including the £10m signing of Peter Crouch, then 30, from Spurs in 2011 on a four-year deal.

"We want to have a sustainable model," said Coates. "We can do that and still provide funds for the manager."

The appointment of Hughes was met with a lukewarm reception by Stoke supporters, with one fan protesting by putting a placard on the back of his van calling for Hughes to go - even before he was confirmed as manager.

Coates said: "I do understand it [fans' doubts] but I remember very well Tony Pulis was not universally popular when he came to this football club. There was more [dissent] I suspect than there is now, by a long way, so it's nothing new.

"Supporters are going to have their own views and their own favourites, so that goes with the territory, I understand everybody won't be jumping up and down but I believe the majority will think we know what we're doing, we've done our homework and we've made a good decision."

Bryan Shaw, chairman of Stoke City's Supporters Club, said: "If you ask the majority of Stoke supporters, Mark Hughes would not be their first choice. That said, whoever the chairman appoints we have to get behind. We just have to hope he proves us wrong."

Hughes, who has also managed Wales, Blackburn, Manchester City and Fulham, takes over from Pulis, who left the club on 21 May after seven years in charge.

Pulis took Stoke to the 2011 FA Cup final, where they were beaten by Manchester City, earning them a place in the Europa League.

Stoke finished 13th in the Premier League last season.