Stoke City boss Mark Hughes believes that the in-form Bojan Krkic will struggle to maintain his stellar performances throughout the hectic festive period.

The Spanish attacker has been in fine form for the Potters as of late in what has proven a productive first season in English football since his move from Barcelona.

Bojan has always enjoyed the luxury of a winter break with his previous clubs, and with four games between now and January 1, Hughes expects that it will be a "hard period" for the former Camp Nou starlet.

Asked if the 24-year-old could handle the fixture pile-up, the Stoke boss told reporters: "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."

City face Premier League leaders Chelsea on Monday night.