Aston Villa's Adama Traore still struggling with ankle injury
Adama Traore is sidelined for Aston Villa again as he continues to struggle with an ankle injury.
The former Barcelona winger played in the under-21s' 1-0 defeat to West Brom on Monday but boss Tim Sherwood admitted the issue was still causing him problems ahead of the visit of Stoke.
Gabby Agbonlahor is also a major doubt after missing the 3-2 loss at Liverpool on Saturday with a calf injury and Idrissa Gueye continues to have treatment on a hamstring injury although he is expected to feature for Villa.
Jack Grealish is set to make his first appearance since pledging his international future to England.
Sherwood has defended his decision to ask for Grealish to be left out of England training.
Birmingham-born Grealish represented Ireland at under-21 level as he qualified through his grandparents but after his decision national manager Roy Hodgson was keen on bringing him to train with England during the international break, with Grealish waiting for his new international registration.
Villa want to keep him at the club to work on his match fitness after he missed most of pre-season with a hamstring injury and Sherwood insisted it is the right call.
He said: "He's missed pre-season and the last international break when we wanted to get some training into him, he was injured. So we're going to use this opportunity now.
"If he was called up for the squad then he'd be going but he wasn't. Roy asked me and said he would like to invite him there and introduce him to the boys and get a feel for St George's Park.
"I thought it was better for him to stay here and work hard. We'll use this time to get him fit for the remainder of the season. He won't be alone, a few of the boys are doing exactly the same."
But Sherwood warned the 20-year-old he must focus on his Villa form if he stands any chance of gatecrashing Hodgson's squad for Euro 2016.
He said: "He's not playing for England unless he is playing for Villa. It goes for every player, they need to play for their club side and play well to get picked by the England manager.
"Roy is at a lot of our games and he is always looking. He's going to make that decision based on how Jack is playing for Aston Villa."
Villa are third bottom in the Barclays Premier League and two points adrift of fourth-bottom Stoke but Sherwood dismissed suggestions they are in a relegation scrap yet.
"It's too early to put us in a relegation battle. It's not what we wanted for the return of points. We're a young group, a new group and I'm confident we'll be okay," he added.
Stoke boss Mark Hughes thinks Xherdan Shaqiri has just a 50-50 chance of being fit.
The B#12million record signing suffered a thigh injury against Bournemouth and has yet to train this week.
"We will give him a bit more time and possibly he might join in on Friday and, if he does, he puts himself in the frame," said Hughes.
Captain Ryan Shawcross resumed training on Thursday with the youth players.
The central defender has been sidelined since undergoing surgery on a long-term back problem in the late summer and it is hoped he will be back in first-team contention at Swansea after the international break.
Hughes said: "Ryan probably could have joined in with us, but with our minds focused on preparing for the game at the weekend we felt he would be best served working with the academy.
"It's really encouraging to see him back out on the pitches again, and hopefully we can step it up even further in the next week or so."
Source: PAR
