I CAN see Stoke fans picking their team for tomorrow’s game now those three injuries have thrown the cat among the pigeons.

Well here’s a left-field suggestion for you – Michael Tonge filling in for James Beattie in attack.

Yes, I know he’s not the biggest or strongest player in the world, but he is a clever player with good skill.

And if you did want to play the ball into feet to someone in the so-called ‘hole’, then he’d be your man from the pick available at Stoke.

That said, I think the manager will prefer someone with a bit more aerial prowess to flick things on for Ricardo Fuller.

And that, for me, means Richard Cresswell is the best player left at Tony’s disposal.

I wouldn’t discount Andy Griffin coming in at right-back if Andy Wilkinson is ruled out, but you’d have to say Stephen Kelly appears favourite after coming off the bench in recent matches.

It will also give Tony the chance to have a rare look at Kelly over 90 minutes if he’s uncertain what to do with the Irishman when his loan spell ends.

Over at left-back, meanwhile, Danny Higginbotham will be a loss for sure after playing his part in a pretty sound defensive effort of late.

I’d go with Carl Dickinson before Danny Pugh in his place simply because he is the better defender.

That’s got to be a consideration away from home and with Fulham having decent wide players such as Simon Davies at their disposal.

This will be a tough game for Stoke, however good our form at the moment, because Fulham are no mugs on their own pitch.

Their record is nearly as good as Stoke’s at home – and we all know they beat Manchester United a few weeks back.

Roy Hodgson made sure he got his defence right first and foremost by drafting in experience and quality such as goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer and big central defender Brede Hangeland.

I like the balance of their team because they’ve got wide men who can threaten, while potentially there are plenty of goals in their midfield.

I know the former Crewe midfielder Danny Murphy is not in the first flush of youth, but he remains a very clever player capable of picking the right pass and popping up in dangerous areas.

Andy Johnson remains a threat up front, particularly with his pace behind, and Bobby Zamora is the one playing that bit deeper to flick on or hold the play up and bring in others.

It’s not the biggest surprise in the world to see Fulham pushing on this season because Roy Hodgson is obviously a manager with a wealth of experience from around Europe.

I’m sure he was determined to return to England and crack it in the Premier League after not quite making it with Blackburn a few years ago.

Had he made a success of that job, I’m sure he’d have been in the running for the biggest job of all.