Premier League preview: Fulham v Stoke

Stoke will be looking for revenge when they travel to Craven Cottage to do battle with struggling Fulham on Saturday.

Fulham visited Britannia Stadium last month with speculation rife over the future of manager Mark Hughes, but Chris Baird’s early double lifted them to a surprise 2-0 win over Tony Pulis’ side.

That win pulled Fulham out of the relegation zone and they now sit in 15th position, although the Londoners are just one point clear of the bottom three.

In their most recent league outing they had a goal from Andy Johnson to thank for rescuing a point in a 1-1 draw with Wigan at DW Stadium.

Stoke, meanwhile, have been one of the most consistent sides this season and continue to defy expectations with their eighth-place standing on the Premier League table.

Pulis’ men cruised to a 2-0 win at home against Bolton over the weekend before beating Cardiff by the same score on Tuesday to advance to the fourth round of the FA Cup.

The Stoke manager has no fresh injury concerns, with strike duo Mamady Sidibe and Eidur Gudjohnsen the only players under a fitness cloud.

For Fulham, Belgian striker Moussa Dembele will be better for his half-an-hour against Wigan after returning from eight weeks out with an ankle injury, while David Stockdale will retain goalkeeping duties in place of Australia’s Mark Schwarzer who is competing at the Asian Cup.

Matthew Briggs’ calf injury rules him out, while Bobby Zamora and Philippe Senderos remain long-term absentees.