Soccer-Hughes laments Stoke's defensive woes ahead of Chelsea clash

March 4 (Reuters) - Stoke City defence will be stretched thin at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday as they will be without four defenders, manager Mark Hughes has said. Defensive duo Phil Bardsley and Geoff Cameron have joined Glen Johnson and captain Ryan Shawcross on the treatment table. "We've got five fit defenders at the moment, but some of them aren't 100 percent fit. We are a little bit stretched but the guys are putting their hand up and getting out there, so that's good," Hughes told British media. "Phil Bardsley is going to be out for a number of weeks. Geoff Cameron is really, really sore once again, but we suspected that would be the case after two games in a short space of time." Stoke, who are on a three-game winning run in the league, are seventh in the table and will look to put themselves in contention for the European spots by picking up three points against 10th-placed Chelsea. (Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Gareth Jones)