Shawcross, Crouch available for Stoke's trip to Southampton

Skipper Shawcross, who missed last weekend's 1-1 draw at Leicester City with an ankle problem, has played 19 league games for Stoke in a season that has been plagued by injuries.

(Reuters)

A similar ankle injury has kept Crouch out for a month and Lambert said that he would take a late decision on whether to thrust the duo back into action.

"Ryan has trained today for the first time, and so has Peter, so they are available for the game," Lambert told reporters on Thursday.

"Obviously they have only just returned so there are decisions to be made over the next 24 or 48 hours. It's a real positive to have them available again though."

Third-choice goalkeeper Jakob Haugaard will provide cover for Jack Butland after Lee Grant suffered a broken wrist in training.

Relegation-threatened Stoke are 19th in the league table with 26 points while Southampton are one point and three places above them.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)