Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson has had mixed fortunes over his injury list after Joe Cole and Glen Johnson were both ruled out of the trip to Stoke.
He will be boosted however that centre-back Sotirios Kyrgiakos and goalkeeper Brad Jones have recovered and are set to at least make the bench.
Cole had missed the last three matches after sustaining a hamstring injury against Bolton, whilst Johnson has missed the previous two games with a groin strain.
The news is likely to force Hodgson's hand to make some changes to his side, after selecting the same line-up for their 2-0 win over Chelsea and 1-1 draw with Wigan on Wednesday.
Hodgson admitted that options were thin on the ground, but hoped that he could keep changes to a minimum and that they would be fit enough to last what is likely to be an exhausting encounter at the Britannia Stadium.
"I'm rather hoping that the two and a half days we'll have had after Wigan will have given us time to recover," he said.
"I don't think we've got that many possibilities to make too many changes.
"We've got senior players like Johnson, Cole and Daniel Agger who are not fit to take part in the game, and then it's young players like Jonjo Shelvey, Jay Spearing and Danny Wilson.
"There isn't an enormous luxury to make wholesale changes.
"If we do make any at all it will be the odd one here and there because the team is functioning well.
"The guys who played against Wigan and Chelsea had a very light training session on Friday, mainly just recovery and prevention of injury. A little bit of movement, but nothing serious.
"We're very aware that it's three very important games in six days, so we don't want to leave anything on the training field.
"We want all our energy, vitality and intensity when we go into the match."
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