Stoke City boss Mark Hughes expects Bojan to struggle over Christmas

Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has admitted that the hectic Christmas schedule could be a "hard period" for Bojan.

The 24-year-old, who is playing his first season in the Premier League, suffered a hip problem during the Potters' 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace at the weekend.

"At the moment he's really enjoying his football and playing week in week out," Sky Sports News quotes Hughes as saying.

"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."

Stoke will face Chelsea, Everton, West Bromwich Albion and Manchester United over 11 days.