Stoke boss Mark Hughes has told the club website that striker Bojan Krkic is progressing well from his knee injury and now needs time time to regain full match fitness.
The former Barcelona forward suffered a cruciate ligament knee injury in an FA Cup tie against Rochdale in January, ruling him out for the rest of the season but made his return in Sunday's Colonia Cup defeat against Portuguese side FC Porto.
"It's obvious at the moment that he is not quite there yet and he understands that but with the progress he is making then he will get there very soon, but it's one of those things that will certainly take a bit of time," Hughes added.