Stoke City boss Mark Hughes has revealed that Robert Huth should be fit to start pre-season training with the club next week.

The German international missed the second half of last season after picking up a knee injury in November 2013, which later required surgery.

However, Hughes is confident that the 29-year-old will be ready to join his teammates next Wednesday as the Potters begin their preparations for the new campaign.

Hughes told The Sentinel: "I've seen Robert this week and he looks in great nick, as you'd expect. He's been in all summer, working hard and looking forward to beginning pre-season. The hope is that he will start on the same day as everyone else.

"He's gone through all the stages. We were trying to get him back during the season and you're talking about Premier League matches and getting him up to speed for those.

"We are in a position now where we still have five or six weeks before the games start and he's in a good place at the moment to come back in the group. He'll be playing big-sided games and we're hoping to get back up to his top level pretty quickly."

Huth has made 148 league appearances for Stoke since joining from Middlesbrough in 2009.