Changes needed as suspensions hit

Last updated : 28 December 2003 By Tony Scholes

Luke Chadwick - likely replacement for the suspended Glen Little
The Clarets will be without both Arthur Gnohere and Glen Little following the cards the received in the last home game just over two weeks ago. Arthur was sent off and will be out both today and for next week’s cup tie at Mansfield while Glen will miss today’s game only after collecting his fifth yellow card of the season.

It is more than likely that Glen would have been out anyway after coming off with only sixteen minutes gone at Crewe clutching his right hamstring, not an uncommon injury for him. His place is almost certain to be taken by Luke Chadwick who hasn’t played a full ninety minutes in a first team match since the 2-2 draw at West Ham in mid-October.

Who comes in for Arthur will surely depend on whether David May is well enough to return after missing the Boxing Day clash at the Alexandra Stadium through illness. If, as expected, he returns then I would expect him to step in alongside skipper Graham Branch at the back.

Despite the less than impressive performance two days ago I don’t see Stan making any other changes to the side as we look to bring to an end a run of defeats that has now reached three and seen us drop to 19th in the table. If that is the case we will line up:

Brian Jensen, Dean West, David May, Graham Branch, Mo Camara, Paul Weller, Richard Chaplow, Tony Grant, Luke Chadwick, Robbie Blake, Ian Moore. Subs: Lee Roche, Mark McGregor, Jay McEveley, Joel Pilkington, Matt O’Neill.

There are no such problems for Stoke boss Tony Pulis who is expected to name an unchanged side after their draw at home to Preston which extended their unbeaten run to four games.

Even so manager Tony Pulis is expecting a tough game and said: "Burnley have had a rough time of it lately but I still expect them to give us a tough game. I expect it will be a tight game as well as a tough one and Burnley will be wanting to put their recent run right, but we are capable of getting a good result."

Should Pulis name the side that played Preston it will be:

Ed De Goey, Wayne Thomas, Gerry Taggart, John Halls, Clive Clarke, Darel Russell, John Eustace, Peter Hoekstra, Lewis Neal, Gifton Noel-Williams, Ade Akinbiyi. Subs: Neil Cutler, Richard Johnson, Marcus Hall, Kris Commons, Carl Asaba.