Soccer-Bojan says he's ready to start for Stoke City

Sept 17 (Reuters) - Stoke City playmaker Bojan Krkic is itching to make his first Premier League start of the season at home against Leicester City at the weekend, news that manager Mark Hughes will welcome in light of his team's disappointing start to the campaign. Stoke are languishing in the relegation zone on two points, despite spending big to bring in a host of attacking talent in the summer as part of Hughes' glamorous makeover of the side, a start that club chairman Peter Coates has described as "iffy". The Potters have lost three and drawn two and are still searching for their first league win as the manager struggles to bed in the creative talents Xherdan Shaqiri, Ibrahim Afellay, and Marco van Ginkel, although arguably the biggest factors in their poor form have been the sale of midfielder Steven Nzonzi and the injury to defender Ryan Shawcross. But the return of Bojan, who came off the bench in the 2-0 loss to Arsenal on Saturday, could be just the tonic they need ahead of a run of league fixtures in which they will fancy their chances against the likes of Bournemouth, Aston Villa, Swansea, Watford and Newcastle United. The former Barcelona midfielder has not started in the league for Stoke since rupturing a knee ligament in January, but says he is fully fit and raring to go. "I don't know when it will be that I can make my first start, but I am ready. I feel really good and I'm training really hard," the 25-year-old was quoted as saying by the Stoke Sentinel. "Now I'm just waiting for the gaffer to decide to start me because I feel ready and I can't wait. "The physical fitness is fine. I need match practice of course, I need minutes in my legs to reach my best form," he added. "I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that as I come back I come back better than ever." (Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)