Pulis carefully managing squad
Stoke boss Tony Pulis is facing a selection headache this week as he tries to manage his squad through three games in seven days.
Tomorrow’s televised clash against Newcastle comes before Thursday’s trip to face Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Europa League and Sunday’s visit to Bolton.
“We’ve got a difficult week,” Pulis said on the club’s website. “For the game to be put back to Monday is disappointing for us because we then have to play Thursday and then Sunday again so we have virtually no rest at all.
“But you can’t take the money and then argue about the fixtures and when they’re played.”
Pulis said he would have to keep a close eye on his players’ condition before picking a side for each match.
“Because it’s such a difficult week, I will look at the situation closely this week,” he said. “We play Monday, then we’re flying Wednesday, flying back after the game and we’ve a game against Bolton on Sunday.
“The third game of the week is a difficult, difficult game.”
Newcastle remain unbeaten in the league, having had their first taste of defeat this season in a dramatic 4-3 extra-time Carling Cup defeat against struggling Blackburn this week.
But Stoke can also point to an undefeated start to the season at home, where they have won two and drawn two so far.
Although the coming week might represent an extreme, Pulis is getting used to carefully managing his squad through an intensive schedule as they handle the extra demands of European competition.
They are no longer competing on all fronts after the midweek Carling Cup exit to Liverpool, a match that was Stoke’s 18th of the season.
“It’s a unique season in lots of respects,” Pulis added. “We’ve played 18 games so far, and to put that in context that’s nearly half a Premier League season and we’ve done that before we’ve got out of October.
“It has to be managed but we’re enjoying it. We’re disappointed that we didn’t get the result we wanted against Liverpool but we have to keep things in perspective.
“In the last two games we’ve played Arsenal and Liverpool, two outstanding teams and two traditionally great football clubs, and given both a run for their money.
“It hasn’t dropped for us but that’s the way it goes. We’re not going to win every game. We’re going to have good runs and bad runs and that happens everywhere.
“We have to manage that and enjoy it on the way and we’ve done that so far.”
