Injuries to strikers Kenwyne Jones and Mamady Sidibe have strengthened Stoke manager Tony Pulis' conviction that he has to bring in reinforcements. The Potters boss is without both his big front men for tomorrow's Carling Cup second-round tie at home to npower League Two side Shrewsbury. Jones, an £8million signing from Sunderland, has not played since injuring his ankle on the opening day of the Barclays Premier League season while Sidibe is out for the season after snapping an Achilles tendon in Saturday's defeat to Tottenham and underwent an operation today. Having brought in Jones and Ipswich's Jon Walters - with James Beattie having left for Rangers and Dave Kitson out of favour - Pulis knows he has to find more back-up, even though he also has Ricardo Fuller and Tuncay Sanli. Pulis has dismissed reports linking him with Tottenham's Peter Crouch, insisting the England international is out of their price range, but admits he is looking for more additions before the transfer window closes. "No, we wouldn't be able to afford Peter Crouch," said the Potters boss. "But the fact we have lost Kenwyne and Mama in our first two matches shows how lightweight we are in certain areas of the squad. So we will be looking to address that situation before the deadline and, as I have stated before, it is important we bring more goals to the team."
Source: PA
Source: PA