Pulis: Jones ready for United

Manager Tony Pulis is confident Kenwyne Jones is in the right frame of mind to lead Stoke City’s attack at Manchester United on Tuesday.

Jones has been struggling to come to terms with a private family tragedy and had scored just one goal in 10 games before he headed the opener in the January 1 victory over Everton.

Pulis said: “Kenwyne’s a lovely lad and he’s been affected by a family matter, which I’m not going to go into. We’ve just supported him the best way we can and I’m pleased to say he’s now coming through it.”

“There were a few moans and groans when his performances dipped a bit, but the fans were brilliant with him against Everton. I’m sure that and the fact he scored an early goal gave him the confidence to play as well as he did.”

Defender Robert Huth returns to the Stoke squad after a one-match suspension and is likely to go straight back in the side, despite a fine performance by replacement Danny Higginbotham against Everton.

Pulis is also expected to recall the energy of Jon Walters in a position just behind Jones and demote Ricardo Fuller to the bench as Stoke attempt to end their dismal record at Manchester United.Stoke have lost on their last seven visits to Old Trafford with an aggregate score of 20-0 and last won there in 1976 – 11 visits ago. Asked which United players he feared, Pulis quipped: “All of them apart from Edwin van der Sar. They are a great side and we are under no illusions how tough our task will be.””We’ve got beat 5-0 and 4-0 in our two games at Old Trafford since we came up, so we haven’t got a lot to improve on. I know we have improved as a team, but we will still have to play very well and have some luck to come away with anything.”