Hello and welcome to our LIVE coverage of Stoke's Premier League clash with Sunderland, kick-off at 12.45pm UK time.

Tony Pulis: "We're going to need those fresh legs because Sunderland have not only had an extra 24 hours to get themselves ready for this game, they also didn't have a game last weekend. That is why it is important we used the squad on Wednesday night. The likes of Matty Etherington and Kenwyne Jones had run their socks off on a heavy pitch against Wolves, so they will have benefited from the fact that they didn't feature in the game at Anfield."

FACT: Sunderland have won their last two Premier League away games, they have not won three in succession since October 1999.

FACT: Stoke have won their last three home games against Sunderland by a one-goal margin.

FACT: In the five Premier League meetings between Stoke and Sunderland, no goals have been scored by the away team.

Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire)

SUNDERLAND TEAM NEWS: Asamoah Gyan leads the line as a lone striker in the injury-absence of Fraizer Campbell and Danny Welbeck. But January signings Sulley Muntari - in for the injured Lee Cattermole - and Stephane Sessegnon start, while Ahmed El-Mohamady is put on the bench. Maybe the Egyptian's mind is on other things. David Meyler and Michael Turner both have knee injuries.

STOKE TEAM NEWS: Ricardo Fuller is absent on compassionate leave after a family bereavement back in Jamaica, but Ryan Shawcross returns from a ban. Matthew Etherington and Kenwyne Jones missed the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool but are named in the starting line-up.

TEAMS - Stoke: Begovic, Wilkinson, Shawcross, Huth, Higginbotham, Pennant, Whitehead, Delap, Etherington, Jones, Carew; Subs: Sorensen, Collins, Whelan, Wilson, Pugh, Walters, Shotton /// Sunderland: Gordon, Onuoha, Mensah, Ferdinand, Bramble, Bardsley, Henderson, Muntari, Sessegnon, Richardson, Gyan; Subs: Mignolet, Zenden, Malbranque, Angeleri, Riveros, Colback, El-Mohamady