Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has backed Bojan Krkic to rediscover the form which saw him make an impact as a youngster at Barcelona.

Bojan has spent difficult spells at Roma, AC Milan and Ajax prior to his arrival at the Britannia Stadium, but Hughes is confident that the Spaniard can be a crucial member of the squad this season.

"You can just see his ability and tell that he's played at the top level," the Potters boss told reporters. "He's a young man who has come to us with the attitude of getting back on track.

"A lot of people doubted him, but the quality is clearly there and it's just a case of bringing it out of him.

"From speaking to him he didn't seem to have a relationship with the players at Ajax, and that must have made things difficult. That shouldn't be the case here."

Bojan scored his first Stoke goal in a pre-season friendly defeat to Schalke on Tuesday evening.