Stoke boss Tony Pulis faces a selection poser ahead of the Fulham game with doubts lingering over the fitness of key players.
Potters face a crucial run of games over the next three weeks
Stoke City manager Tony Pulis faces a selection poser ahead of the Fulham game with doubts lingering over the fitness of a host of key players.
Despite the welcomed international break, Matthew Etherington, Jermaine Pennant, Kenwyne Jones and Marc Wilson have not been able to recover from their knocks during this period.
The quartet have made significant strides towards regaining peak condition, but with the Potters now entering a period of seven games in 22 days, Pulis is reluctant to risk aggravating their knocks.
"All the lads are training and in with a shout of returning, but it's a massive call because of all the games we have coming up," Pulis told the club's
official website.
Reaction
"We don't want to rush players back too quickly and then find they have to miss a couple of weeks because they have a reaction."
Stoke have not won in the Premier League since 10th September and entertain a Fulham side who hammered local rivals Queens Park Rangers 6-0 in their last match.
Pulis, though, believes that statistic gives a false impression of the club's start to the season, which has seen them lose just twice, at Sunderland and Swansea, in 15 games in all competitions
"Yeah, it's dreadful," he added.
"[Unbeaten against] Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United, a dreadful start.
"We're disappointed that the two games we've lost have been really down to mistakes more than anything else, but the standard that we've set and the standard of football that we've played, especially at the Britannia, has been absolutely fantastic and I think everybody has enjoyed it."
