Stoke City eye double strike boost

Stoke City boss Tony Pulis is hopeful that his squad will soon be boosted by the return from injury of strike duo Mamady Sidibe and Ricardo Fuller.

Twenty-nine-year-old Sidibe has been sidelined since mid-December by a knee injury, while Fuller is in the early stages of his recovery from a dislocated shoulder.

However, Pulis believes both men will be back in action sooner rather than later, possibly in time for this weekend's clash with Portsmouth.

He said: "We could have Sidibe back. He is very much in the frame for the weekend.

"He has been an enormous loss to us. He will need time and we can't expect him to be back to what he was just yet.

"He was a real handful at the beginning of the season up front. He impressed a lot of people with his performances, but we cannot expect him to come back right on the mark just yet.

"Fuller looked to be out for a long time with a dislocated shoulder but he has trained a couple of days this week on his own, which has surprised me, so we will see how he is at the weekend.

"We are now hoping he will be back quicker than we thought, but probably not for this next match."