Pulis to make wholesale changes

Stoke boss Tony Pulis will rely on a second-string line-up to progress to the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup when he takes his side to Portsmouth.Pulis has so far used the competition to give his lesser-used squad members a run in the first team and made 11 changes in the previous round when the Potters secured a thrilling 4-3 win at Blackpool.While Pulis will again opt for wholesale changes at Fratton Park his match-day squad will not lack experience, with the 51-year-old set to call on the likes of Tuncay, Dave Kitson and Liam Lawrence as well as handing a return to Mamady Sidibe after his long injury lay-off."I'll say this quite openly because we will make changes to give players a run. It is our squad which will keep us in the Premiership, not the team," Pulis said."But we won't be fielding a team of kids. We will be picking a team of senior players who will all be very capable of putting on a good performance."We've done smashing to win at Leyton Orient and beat Blackpool and we will be going to Portsmouth with the aim of getting into the quarter-finals."

Source: Eurosport