Stoke’s injury hit list

Stoke City have been hit by a series of injuries as they prepare for the visit of Southampton on Saturday.

Lee Hendrie, Andy Griffin, Danny Higginbotham and Carl Hoefkens are all early doubts for the match and the bad news does not end there with reports that Dominic Matteo will be out for at least another two weeks after scans have revealed an injury to his foot after he had to pull out of the Barnsley game last week with a thigh injury.

Ricardo Fuller will still be absent as he serves the final leg of his four match suspension.

On a more positive note, the Potters will have returning loanee, Jonathan Fortune available for selection and Gabriel Zakuani and Lee Martin both impressed the manager in the 1-1 draw at Plymouth last Saturday and would be good replacements if needed.