Stoke City could be without four players for Portsmouth Championship clash

Stoke City will have to assess Million Manhoef ahead of their match against Pompey at the Bet365 Stadium on Wednesday night.

The 22-year-old winger asked to be substituted in the 55th minute after being carded in the first-half. Stoke had been trailing to Middlesbrough after Ben Doak's opener, and then 18 minutes after he departed, Hayden Hackney added a second.

Manhoef had been treated for a leg injury whilst on the pitch, but was also under the weather, before making way for Sam Gallagher. Manhoef, who arrived in the winter transfer window, has got three goals and an assist for Stoke this season.

Gallagher himself was making his first appearance of the season, having suffered an injury in pre-season which prevented him from making his debut after joining from Blackburn Rovers.

"(Manhoef) was not feeling well and asked for the change,” said Pelach to StokeonTrentLive: “He will have to be assessed."

Centre-back Ashley Phillips is expected to return after going through a concussion protocol after banging his head against Fleetwood Town in the Carabao Cup in mid-September. The 19-year-old has so far played one Championship game since joining on a season-long loan from Spurs.

Ben Pearson, Lynden Gooch, and summer signing Bosun Lawal all remain sidelined. Pearson has a hamstring problem, whilst Gooch is out with a knee injury, and Lawal who joined from Celtic has yet to make his debut for the club because of a back issue. Pearson hasn’t played this season, but Gooch played in the opening five games under Steven Schumacher, but has yet to play under the new manager.

This is the first competitive meeting between the two sides in a decade. Stoke ran out 3-0 winners when they hosted Pompey in the second round of the Carabao Cup. Pompey's last success at Stoke was in February 1995, with Preki Radosavljevic, and Gerry Creaney on target that day.