Stoke City vs Tottenham team news: Potters sweating on Marc Muniesa fitness, Erik Pieters suspended

Stoke City are sweating on the fitness of Marc Muniesa ahead of the Premier League clash against Tottenham Hotspur, with Erik Pieters also unavailable.

The Potters have been blighted by injuries to their defensive options this term, with manager Mark Hughes seldom able to name a settled back four.

His options have been further shortened as Pieters is set to miss the club's next two matches after picking up his 10<sup>th yellow card of the season in the 4-1 defeat to Liverpool on 10 April.

Former Barcelona starlet Muniesa would be a natural replacement, but the versatile defender is now a doubt having not trained all week, although Hughes remains hopeful he will be ready in time for Monday's match.

"We have a slight concern on Marc Muniesa, so obviously that is an issue for us at the moment," Hughes told a press conference ahead of the visit of Mauricio Pochettino's side. "He just got a bang in training and he hasn't trained since Monday. So we have to wait on him, he's the one worry.

"Given we haven't got the option of Erik Pieters at left-back we are hoping that he's going to come through, but he's got a bit of time yet so hopefully he'll be okay."

Pieters was involved in a frank exchange of words with the Stoke bench after he was subbed against Liverpool last week. Hughes, however, played down the incident with the Dutch defender, explaining there is no issue between the two.

"It was just one of those moments in the game. I've spoken to Erik about it since, it is not an issue. On the day, I felt his performance wasn't where it needed to be, that was the top and bottom of it, really. As the manager, it is up to me to make the decision and on the day, in that moment in the game, it was the right decision [to take Pieters off].

We've talked it through, he understands my position, I understand what he was trying to say on the pitch. We move on, it wasn't an issue."

Tottenham travel to the Britannia Stadium on Monday looking to maintain pace with league leaders Leicester City, who take on West Ham United on 17 April.