Dave Jones will again be without Jay Bothroyd for Tuesday night’s match as the striker continues to suffer from a hamstring problem, although rumours are emerging that the forward might have played his last game for Cardiff City.
Although Bothroyd hasn’t been in action since 4th December, it appears that Newcastle have opened talks with the Bluebirds with a view to bolstering their squad’s firepower by signing a player that was recently made an England international by Fabio Capello.
Jon Parkin and Michael Chopra are likely to once again lead the line against the Potters in this FA Cup replay, with the former having scored what looked like the winner at Carrow Road on Saturday, only for Norwich to equalise the dying minutes.
Stoke will arrive in south Wales full of confidence after beating Bolton 2-0 on Saturday, a result which saw them go eighth in the table. It’s now implausible that the Staffordshire side will be involved in any scrap for survival, although they appear to have missed out on a multi-million pound signing over the past few days.
Hoffenheim striker Demba Ba appeared to be on his way to the Britannia Stadium for £7.1 million before failing a medical with the Premier League, something which means the deal is effectively dead in the water.
“We thought it was a good deal for a young lad who has scored a lot of goals in Germany. His wages were within our structure so everything was in place.
“But unfortunately here has been a medical problem. The deal as we know it is not going to go ahead.”
Match odds:
Cardiff City, 7/4 with William Hill
Draw, 12/5 with Victor Chandler
Stoke City, 13/8 with bet365