Team news

Stoke preview
Stoke boss Tony Pulis is expected to recall goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen to his line-up to face Wolves following the Dane's late withdrawal at Tottenham last weekend with flu.

Steve Simonsen stepped in and performed heroics to secure a 1-0 win at White Hart Lane, and was again in the side that lost 4-0 at Portsmouth in the Carling Cup on Tuesday.

Pulis also has to decide whether to bring Mamady Sidibe into the reckoning after the striker's return to action at Fratton Park following a knee injury.

Tuncay also performed well at Portsmouth and could force his way into a side still missing the suspended Robert Huth.

Stoke have lost in the league this term only to Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United and sit in ninth spot.

But Pulis still believes his side are not getting the rub of the green with referee's decisions.

He said: "I still think we are looked on as a downtrodden club and the stats show we are being hard done by.

"We will just have to roll our sleeves up and get on with it. There's no point in complaining about it to any level of officialdom. We know it is happening, we know the facts and we have to understand it.

"The fans must realise it. We have to realise it as a group, the club must realise and be more resilient. There are things going against us that shouldn't go against us for no good reason.

"Our fans are fantastic. They recognise what is going on and that makes them more determined. It is important for them to stay behind us.

"I have been looking at the statistics, we get slaughtered both ways. Winning or losing we get more and less time added on. What happened at Spurs was scandalous."

Wolves preview
Wolves welcome back striker Stefan Maierhofer after the Austrian served a one-match ban.

However manager Mick McCarthy is poised to name an unchanged starting line-up, with Maierhofer on the bench as Kevin Doyle and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake continue in attack.

On-loan Chelsea central defender Michael Mancienne is available again after missing the last two games through illness.

Ahead of the encounter, McCarthy has ruled out using Stoke's success as a blueprint for his own pursuit of Premier League survival.

McCarthy is wary of focusing too much on the success of other sides and aims to follow his own instincts to try to ensure that Wolves are not one-season wonders in the top flight.

He said: "We used to say that Charlton were the blueprint for everyone to follow and look what has happened to them.

"That blueprint has been thrown away hasn't it. That was everyone's blueprint wasn't it. It was `Oh, we all want to be like Charlton'.

"Well I say let's be like ourselves and let's see if we can stay up on our own merits and not by anybody else's." While determined to focus on doing things his own way, McCarthy admits he has been impressed by what Stoke have done and thinks it would be a major mistake to just believe that success has been achieved because they are a physical side who are good at set pieces.

He added: "I think you might be doing them a disservice by saying they are good at set pieces.They have got more to their game than that.

"Just look at their players, the likes of Liam Lawrence, Glenn Whelan, Matthew Etherington, they are far from devoid of ability.

"Let me tell you a team that goes down to Tottenham and wins like they did last weekend shows what they are about. They did well last season and they are a good side.

"Tony Pulis is a pal of mine and his teams are always very competitive and very well organised.

"But what has impressed me most about them is that they got promoted and stayed up." Wolves head to Stoke on the back of impressive draws against Everton and Aston Villa.

But McCarthy knows they need to start turning those draws into wins to stay clear of trouble at the foot of the table.

He added: "It is all right playing well. But we would have been better off winning one and losing one as we would have more points on the board.

Stoke vs Wolverhampton

Last modified 22:07 31/10/09

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You would hardly call Jody Craddock prolific when it comes to the art of putting the ball in the net.

Just eight goals in six years was the centre-back’s record before he made a sentimental return to the Britannia Stadium yesterday.

Craddock was given a rousing reception by the Stoke fans, who took him to their hearts when he joined the Potters on loan from Molineux two years ago.

So how did he repay their applause? By ramming them back down their throats and scoring two goals in a game for the first time in his career.

Craddock’s unlikely double earned Mick McCarthy’s Premier League new boys a thoroughly deserved share of the spoils after Stoke had dominated the first half.

Both managers were delighted for Craddock. McCarthy admitted: “I certainly didn’t expect that from Jody. He nearly left us but he has been brilliant since coming back.

“He has forced his way back in the team and is a resilient character. He is showing right now that experience counts for a lot.”

Stoke boss Tony Pulis shrugged off disappointment at dropping two points to declare: “Jody is a good lad and we would love to have had him here full-time.”

Pulis was less happy with the goal just after the break that got Wolves back in the game. He said: “I thought it was a poor decision to award the free-kick in the first place, and then Jody was a yard offside when he scored.

“We are disappointed not to have won, but I am still absolutely delighted to have the points on the board  we have right now.

“We are competing in the best league in the world and we are moving forward as a club.

“We have had one good season in the Premier League and we want to establish ourselves in it.”

Staying up is the target, too, for Wolves. And, on this gutsy showing, they must have a great chance.

McCarthy said: “It is nice to get something, because I am sick of seeing us play well and not winning this season. We certainly deserved something today.

“Sure, Stoke had the first half, but we dominated the second and put in a really good performance.”

Wolves almost paid early on when Matthew Etherington fired over an inswinging corner and they failed to pick up Danny Collins at the far post.

He planted his header straight at Wayne Hennessey, who fumbled the ball on the line and Christophe Berra had to be alert to hack clear.

But there was no reprieve in the 17th minute when Stoke benefited from a rotten piece of luck for George Elokobi to go in front.

Etherington beat Ronald Zubar and delivered a cross to the far post where Elokobi, under pressure from James Beattie, deflected the ball into his own net.

Stoke continued to dominate, and only a breathtaking one-handed save by Hennessey from Beattie’s header stopped Wolves falling further behind.

But the Potters doubled their lead a minute before the break,  Etherington firing into the roof of the net after Berra had only half cleared Rory Delap’s long throw.

Wolves looked as though they might be on the end of a mauling, but an inspired half-time switch by McCarthy brought a dramatic transformation.

He replaced Segundo Castillo with Nenad Milijas and the tone of the contest changed. Within two minutes of the re-start, Wolves halved the deficit when Craddock stabbed home a Milijas free-kick.

Then, after a period of domination, Wolves got the equaliser they so richly warranted – and, once again, the irresistible Milijas was the architect with a superbly-delivered 64th minute corner.

Stoke’s defenders were all over the place and Craddock guided a header into the top corner.

McCarthy hailed Serb Milijas, saying: “He is a class act and gives us real quality because his delivery is fantastic.”