Stoke v Reading

Stoke boss Tony Pulis will ring the changes for the Carling Cup third round tie at home to Reading.
Ricardo Fuller, who only played as a late substitute after picking up a bug before Saturday's draw at Liverpool, may play part of the game, otherwise Pulis will field a largely second string side.

Two players who will not feature are midfielders Michael Tonge and Tom Soares, who are cup-tied having featured in the competition already this season for Sheffield United and Crystal Palace respectively.

Pulis will revert to his 'B' squad as Stoke attempt to reach the fourth round of the Carling Cup for the first time in seven years.

The Potteries side have an awful record in the competition, suffering ignominious defeats at the hands of Rochdale, Darlington, Mansfield, Oldham (twice) and Bury in recent seasons.

And Stoke fans will not need reminding how their side were thrashed 8-0 at home by Liverpool on the last occasion they did make it to the last 16 in 2001.

But that defeat came under the reign of Gudjon Thordarson, and City have since won two promotions - the first led by the Icelander and the second under Pulis - to climb into the Premier League for the first time in their history.

That has sparked 10 new signings since May and Pulis has confirmed many of the players who took Stoke to the top flight will get the chance to stake their claim again tomorrow.

Pulis said: "We've now got a lot of players at the football club and many of them are in desperate need of a game. I'm sure they will also be desperate to show they still have an important part to play here.

"We must also remember this match comes between playing Liverpool last weekend and taking on Chelsea this coming Saturday.

"The players were magnificent at Liverpool and we had a lot of tired bodies and minds in the dressing room afterwards.

"But we do want to make further progress in the Carling Cup and I will put out a side which will be very competitive against Reading.''

Royals manager Steve Coppell is set to make wholesale changes to his side.

After the farcical 2-2 draw at Watford on Saturday Coppell pledged to rest the majority of his first team, and former Stoke midfielder Brynjar Gunnarsson could feature for the first time since January.

Gunnarsson has been out with a serious knee injury but after several reserve outings he is ready for a recall while Kalifa Cisse will also start after his toe injury.

Captain Graeme Murty has suffered another setback to his comeback from a calf injury and will not be fit until next month while Czech Republic midfielder Marek Matejovsky is definitely out as he continues his rehabilitation from a knee injury.

Defender Michael Duberry remains a few weeks away from a return after a calf injury and Coppell admitted that Noel Hunt should not have played against Watford as he was suffering with the same illness that had struck Ivar Ingimarsson.

Youngsters Julian Kelly, James Henry, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Scott Golbourne could all feature but Chris Armstrong is cup-tied.