An established Premier League team, Stoke will be looking to keep climbing up the table and break into the European places this season.

Whether they can do it remains to be seen but that is what the fans want and it is up to Mark Hughes to deliver.

Former manager Tony Pulis was ultimately pushed out of the club for not progressing it, 

Supporters wanted a change from the direct football the team was playing and under Hughes there has been an improvement in the playing style.

The club finished ninth last season but were 19 points off a Europa League place and the gap may get better with the top seven clubs, and Manchester United, all spending money this summer.

The Potters have also spent money in the window and one of the signings of the summer has been Bojan from Barcelona to Stoke.

The young striker was once thought of as the next Barca number nine but that failed to materialise. He is still regarded as one of the top prospects in European football and his goals may take the club to the next level.

Alongside him is likely to be Mame Biram Diouf, who after a difficult time at Manchester United for a few seasons, rediscovered his form in Germany with Hannover and looks a lot more suited to the Premier League second time around.

The new strike partnership will be key throughout the season, after the team scored 45 goals last season, and Bojan has hit the ground running after grabbing three goals in pre-season.

Hughes had a tricky summer in terms of results but will be looking to put that behind him when he leads the team out when they take on Aston Villa on Saturday.

The rest of their opening fixtures are relatively easy, although a trip to Manchester City is on the cards for the third fixture. 

Realistically, another mid-table finish is on the cards and the fans should be happy with that.

It takes a lot of investment to climb up the table and it doesn’t always guarantee success. Villa and Sunder are examples of this, two clubs who pumped a lot of money into the side hoping for European football but it didn’t work out and they now find themselves fighting to stay in the league on a yearly basis.

No-one sees Stoke as relegation favourites and with smart acquisitions over time, they can start to fight to be among the top seven or eight teams in the league. But for now, they should focus on building on what is already a very promising foundation.