Stoke City Manager Mark Hughes is hoping that Joe Allen will return for the clash against Sunderland at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday after having sustained a hamstring injury on international duty.
Stoke currently sit 19th in the Premier League table with just three points out of a possible 21, meaning that Saturday's fixture is already a relegation six-pointer.
Allen has scored in each of his last three domestic and international games, and is becoming an important player for a side, which has made a poor start to the 2016/17 campaign.
The Welsh midfielder pulled out of the second World Cup qualifier match during the week after having scored against Austria in the game before.
Speaking to the Stoke City media, Hughes stated: "We're still checking on Joe, he hasn't trained with the group yet.We've just got to be a little bit careful with him; unfortunately he probably did a little bit too much with the Welsh squad.We're hopeful that he's going to be okay and we'll have to check on him."
After having signed for £13m, Joe Allen has been one of Stoke's only good players this season and would be a crucial boost to a team still searching for its first league win of the Premier League season.