The German defender Robert Huth was not able to play for Stoke City during the 2^nd half of the previous season after picking up a knee injury which forced him to remain out of the playing grounds for a substantially long period of time.

The manager of Stoke City, Mark Hughes is expecting Huth to be fully recovered and train with his teammates during the pre-season schedule of the club which begins in the next few days and it’s going to be a great way for the German defender to get fit before the start of the upcoming Premier League season in August.

Hughes told reporters: “I’ve seen Robert this week and he looks in great, 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.”

Ever since Robert Huth was signed by Stoke City in 2009 he has managed to cement his place in the English club as well as making over 140 appearances and Huth is hoping that he can retain his spot in the team when he is fully recovered although he is going to have fight for his spot along with Marc Wilson and Ryan Shawcross who also perform at the heart of the defence of Stoke City.