Mark Hughes, the Stoke City manager, has responded to David Moyes's calls for referees to give 18-year-old Adnan Januzaj more protection by suggesting the Manchester United winger gets more than his share of free-kicks and that there comes a time when "you have to let kids stand on their own two feet".

Moyes claimed after Sunday's 3-0 win at Aston Villa that opponents were "queueing up to kick" Januzaj in every game and, in terms of the role of the officials, said "it's terrible what they are allowing to go on at the moment". Hughes said that it was natural for Moyes to defend his players but, recalling Stoke's 3-2 defeat at Old Trafford in October, when Wilson Palacios and Stephen Ireland were booked for fouls on Januzaj, disputed the United manager's belief that fouls on the teenager are going unpunished.

"Managers always protect their players," Hughes said in the buildup to Wednesday night's Capital One Cup quarter-final at the Britannia Stadium. "Januzaj is a big talent and I'm sure he will be a big talent for many years to come. Sometimes you have to let kids stand on their own two feet and get on with it."

Asked about Januzaj being targeted by opponents, Hughes said: "We don't do that but it can happen. Januzaj seems to garner a number of fouls and get a lot of decisions. In our game he got five free-kicks in a very short space of time, and at the time I didn't think they were fouls. So maybe that's a side of his game that needs to be looked at as well."

Hughes believes that his former United team-mate Ryan Giggs will be mentoring Januzaj, and said that the Welshman knew all about how to handle the physical side of the game by the time he broke through at Old Trafford.

"Ryan was playing in the Lancashire A and B leagues and had to go to Marine away. When you're a 14-year-old kid and have to go up against men, you have to deal with that early and learn very quickly how to jump out of tackles."

With United looking vulnerable at times this season and Stoke on a run of only one defeat in their past eight matches, Hughes said that his players have no fear about facing the champions. "A lot of teams have gone to Old Trafford and had a go. I've been encouraged by the success they've had – and I include ourselves in that.

"We were 12 minutes away from getting a result from a great performance. Opposition teams are now thinking they can get something if they are positive. We did that against Chelsea [in the 3-2 win earlier this month] and it worked – I think it's a change of attitude."