Ryan Shacross and Xherdan Shaqiri to miss Watford trip

Stoke could go to Watford on Saturday without three of their key first-team players, Mark Hughes has revealed.

Captain Ryan Shawcross and playmaker Xherdan Shaqiri will defiinitely miss out this weekend, while full-back Erik Pieters is also an injury doubt.

Pieters has been kept out of training this week by a calf injury, and both Shawcross (back) and Shaqiri (thigh) have failed to recover from problems picked up during last week's defeat to Southampton.

Hughes said: "Ryan is okay, but he isn't going to be ready for the game on Saturday, sadly. 

"We fully expect him to be okay for the game against Swansea City in a couple of weeks' time, whilst hopefully we will have Xherdan back then too.

"He picked up a thigh muscle injury last weekend and is likely to need another 10 or 11 days or so before he can join back in with the group. 

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"Erik is one that we are going to have to wait on but he hasn't trained this week at all, so we will give him 24 hours before making a decision."

Phil Bardsley is back in training after missing two games and is potential cover for Pieters as Hughes seeks revenge for Watford's 2-0 win at the Britannia earlier in the season.

"We need a better performance than we produced in the home game that is for sure," the City boss told the club website. "I am sure the lads will be ready to go there and show that we have moved on significantly from that day.

"With the games we have got remaining the target is to try and get through them unbeaten, if we possibly can. We would back ourselves against any side in the division, and we have shown that we can compete with the very best."