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Lamine Cisse is starting his first full season at Stoke City confident that he can prove to be a success in England. The 23-year-old forward arrived at Stoke nearly 12 months ago nursing a shoulder injury which had hampered his pre-season and delayed his start at his new club. He admits that it then took some adjusting to get used to the intensity of life in the Championship. But he started to find his feet with cameo appearances over the next couple of months and had built belief by the New Year that he could really make a difference. He was Stoke’s player of the month in February and April, albeit during some tough form, and is hoping he can build on that as it all kicks off again, starting with a Carabao Cup first round tie at home to Oldham this afternoon (3pm). “I think it was the first game I started, away against Middlesbrough, who are a good team as well that I saw the difference between the French football and England,” he told The Sentinel. “The intensity was high. After this game I was saying to myself that I have to be ready for this. FOLLOW OUR FACEBOOK PAGE! Latest Stoke City news, analysis and more via the Sentinel “Then there was a moment, maybe away at Hull City, when I knew I could do it. I played well, the team played well and I was saying to myself that now I can play more than 60 minutes in the Championship and do well in this division. “You have to make a lot of adaptations to play in the Championship. You have to run a lot, you have to be physical.” Cisse led the line for Stoke in their final friendly of the summer, last weekend against Valencia, and is sure he will benefit from his first pre-season at the club. There is competition for places in attack but he doesn’t mind that. He said: “I think I’m more ready now because last season I was injured during the summer, started late. Now I’ve started early with the team and it’s better for me and for the team. I’m just happy. “This season I want to be more dangerous. I want to create more chances for the team, more big chances, to score more and to make more assists. I think I have to improve, to press more, to understand the trigger and everything else.” He added: “It’s true I want to try to make sure I start games but I’m not focused on myself, I’m focused on the team. If the team plays well, normally it means I will have played well too.” Cisse has played on either wing and down the middle during his first year at Stoke but, again, the softly-spoken forward is keen to put the team first. “I don’t know!” he said. “I just want to help the team. Even if I play right wing, left wing or striker, I just want to play very good and to score if I can or make an assist. It doesn’t matter. “My target is to help the team to score a lot of goals if I can and make a lot of assists but the moment important thing is helping get wins. If I’m not scoring and we win, I’m happy. Everyone is excited to start the season. “I don’t know if I can say my personal target but I’m not fixing a limit. If I can score 20 goals, 15 or 10, my target is just to help the team and try to win promotion.” What do you think? Click HERE to join the debate