Stoke City's new verve and vitality has Ibrahim Afellay feeling ten feet tall early in his debut season with the club.

The Dutch winger joined the Potters earlier this summer after a stint with Barcelona and he feels the arrival of himself and Xherdan Shaqiri in particular has the Staffordshire club daring to dream.

Stoke have for so long been known as a long-ball team who enjoy the more physical aspect of the game but Afellay suggests that is no longer the mantra under Welshman Mark Hughes.

"They have a project, a new philosophy and try to play football. It's not like the years before," Afellay told the Daily Mail.

"The manager in this case is the most important because he decides how a team wants to play. You can see we're a team who tries to play football.

"I've not been here long, I'm looking for a house. My first impressions are very positive, the people are very friendly. They are fantastic fans, it's a fantastic stadium.

"The facilities and other things are there to make a nice year and nice project. It does need time, because look back at years before: you can't compare that to now.

"We are a team trying to play, to let the people enjoy their football."