Bocat, Thompson, Stevens - Stoke City injury news ahead of Burnley clash
Stoke City will make a late call on Eric Bocat as they start the New Year with a tough trip to Burnley.
The left-back pulled out of Sunday's home clash with Sunderland after tweaking his calf in the warm-up and is a doubt for this match at Turf Moor. Lynden Gooch filled in for the 1-0 win over his former club and could start again at left-back because Enda Stevens, who came on as a sub after missing seven games with a calf injury, is also being assessed.
Ben Gibson had been ill before the Leeds game on Boxing Day and spent the Sunderland game on the bench as Stoke kept a clean sheet. It remains to be seen if the club captain will come straight back in against his old club.
READ MORE: Major next Stoke City manager shift as new contender in frame
READ MORE: Stoke City transfer latest as key double search extends into New Year
Jordan Thompson (groin), Million Manhoef (knee) and Ben Pearson (hamstring) remain in the treatment room while Sam Gallagher and Bosun Lawal are being eased into the thick of things after long-term injuries.
Caretaker boss Ryan Shawcross said in his pre-match press conference : "We're just assessing it at the moment. We had a couple of niggles before the Sunderland game with Ben Gibson and Enda and we're looking after Gallagher and Enda to try to get them into a place where they can play more minutes. Then Eric we're assessing and seeing whether he can play and whether it would be right for him to play. We'll assess that and make a late call.
"Jordan Thompson won't be involved tomorrow and more than likely won't be involved at the weekend and we'll just keep assessing and seeing where he's at. It's more of a long-term one with Jordan and it's more for the medical department."
Gallagher made an important contribution as a sub against Sunderland, winning the ball back high up for Tom Cannon to score the winner.
Shawcross said: "There's an understanding from the club that we want him to play for a prolonged period. so we have to really manage his minutes. We've got Joel Dawson, who I really respect, in charge of that and trying to make sure we have him available for 10 or 15 games, not two games, blast him away, and then he's injured again. At times we're going to have to push him but we have to realise that it's important he builds himself up slowly."
