Bojan may struggle in December, admits Hughes

The 24-year-old forward has proved a hit at the Britannia Stadium since joining from Barcelona in the close-season, scoring twice in 11 top-flight appearances.

Bojan also played a huge part in Stoke's equalising goal in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace and Hughes confessed that his team struggled to create chances after his withdrawal with a hip injury in the second half.

Hughes expects the once-time Spain international to recover in time to face Chelsea on December 22.

But with Stoke set to face four Premier League fixtures from that date to New Year's Day, Hughes admits he will have to monitor him closely - particularly given Bojan has been used to a mid-season break.

Asked if Bojan will cope with the hectic schedule, Hughes said: "Yeah we've talked about it.

"At the moment he's really enjoying his football and playing week in week out.

"So I think we can ride that wave to a certain extent, he's happy with what he's doing and how he's playing so for now we just go with it.

"There may be games where you see the little edge to his game just appearing, we'll see how it goes, but we're mindful of the fact that as he hasn't been through it before it could be a hard period for him."