TONY PULIS has today handed his long-term injury victims a major boost by including them in a 25-man squad submitted to the Premier League following the closure of the transfer window earlier this week.
Defender Danny Higginbotham and strike pair Ricardo Fuller and Mamady Sidibe are all named in Stoke City's squad for the first half of the season as their rehabilitation from serious injuries reaches an advanced stage.
Higginbotham is recovering from a cruciate knee ligament injury while Fuller and Sidibe have been sidelined by ruptured Achilles tendons, but all three players are within sight of a return to action in the near future.
The squad also includes the three transfer deadline day signings Peter Crouch, Wilson Palacios and Cameron Jerome.
Pulis' decision to omit a number of fringe players from his 25-man squad including Danny Pugh and Danny Collins reflects his desire to allow them to gain the regular first team football elsewhere by going out on loan.
City's manager has also taken the bold step of leaving England defender Jonathan Woodgate out of his Europa League squad, having insisted that the Club will manage his fitness carefully following an injury troubled time.
Although Woodgate made his Potters debut in the Europa League win at Hadjuk Split last month, he will now focus on the Premier League in the coming months as he looks to build upon a successful start to his time at the Britannia Stadium in which he has played an influential role in the unbeaten start to the season.
A 23-man squad has been submitted to UEFA for the Group Stages of the Europa League with Sidibe the other player to miss out.
Premier League Squad: Diego Arismendi, Asmir Begovic, Peter Crouch, Rory Delap, Salif Diao, Matthew Etherington, Ricardo Fuller, Danny Higginbotham, Robert Huth, Cameron Jerome, Kenwyne Jones, Carlo Nash, Wilson Palacios, Jermaine Pennant, Ryan Shawcross, Ryan Shotton, Mamady Sidibe, Thomas Sorensen, Matthew Upson, Jonathan Walters, Glenn Whelan, Dean Whitehead, Andy Wilkinson, Marc Wilson, Jonathan Woodgate.
Europa League Squad: Diego Arismendi, Asmir Begovic, Peter Crouch, Rory Delap, Salif Diao, Matthew Etherington, Ricardo Fuller, Danny Higginbotham, Robert Huth, Cameron Jerome, Kenwyne Jones, Carlo Nash, Wilson Palacios, Jermaine Pennant, Ryan Shawcross, Ryan Shotton, Thomas Sorensen, Matthew Upson, Jonathan Walters, Glenn Whelan, Dean Whitehead, Andy Wilkinson, Marc Wilson.
Pugh surprises me, but Diao and Sidibe don't, they only disappoint!