Stoke City chief Tony Scholes is delighted with season ticket sales since the appointment of Mark Hughes.

Scholes has reported increased sales since the former Wales boss was brought in after a recorded drop in the weeks previously, although the club are still below last year's numbers.

"We were 15% down on last year when the Early Bird sales period came to an end," he told stokecityfc.com.

"Whilst it was disappointing that we were down at all, to put it into context we had still sold 16,500 season tickets at that point and sold more than many people were expecting us to.

"Since going back on sale with mid-price season tickets, and following the appointment of Mark Hughes, we've had a very good response and have sold a further 1,000 tickets.

"We normally sell between 500-600 tickets during this period. We're still down, like-for-like on last year, but whereas we were 15% we're now 12.5% down.

"We've been very encouraged by the recent increase in sales and it gives us great reason to be optimistic that once again we're going to be playing in front of sell-out crowds next season."