Stoke's record at Anfield is so scary it even brings boss Mark Hughes out in a cold sweat.

The Potters haven't won in front of the Kop in 51 visits - a record that stretches back to 1959.

But Hughes is desperate to cash in on the negativity surrounding Liverpool's miserable start to the season and put that record to bed.

It's particularly haunting for Hughes who revealed that for all the goals he plundered in a glittering career with Manchester United and Chelsea, he never scored at the famous Kop end.

Hughes said: "Going up against Liverpool was always a big fixture in the calendar as you can imagine.

"I never got to score at the Kop end and that was one of my big disappointments.

"I scored at the other end, but not in front of the Kop. I never managed to sort that one out.

"I would've celebrated quite strongly if ever I'd done that! It wasn't to be."

Hughes can't do anything about that one, but he's keen to make sure his Stoke side can break their hoodoo.

TIME FOR CHANGE: Mark Hughes wants to end the 51-game wait for a Stoke win at Anfield [GETTY]

"Not winning in 51 top flight visits is way too long," he said.

"It's a good opportunity to change a few of those stats. It'd be great if we could start afresh."

And Hughes says the negativity surrounding Brendan Rodgers and his men right now might be something to home in on.

He added: "If we can use that to our advantage, then you have to get your nose in front, which is what we did at Spurs.

"There seemed to be some negativity around Tottenham when we went there a couple of weeks back and that helped us."

Hughes thinks the pressure on Rodgers is unfair, but isn't surprised they've fallen short of last season's standards.

"It happens to all us and Brendan's aware of that," said Hughes. "As a manager you just hope the spotlight isn't shining on you.

"Brendan understands how it works but when you lose the services of two strikers like Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge then it's going to impact on you.

"I think there were only three players in the whole of the Premier League who scored more than 20 goals and Liverpool had two of them."