For Tony Pulis and his floundering Stoke team the international break may just have come at an opportune moment. After an abject performance in the 5-0 thrashing by struggling Bolton, a fortnight's break has given Pulis the chance to reorganise and also time for players such as Matthew Etherington, Ryan Shawcross and Marc Wilson to recover from injury. All are expected to be involved at some point on Saturday, but whether the Potters are able to take advantage of the respite against a resilient QPR side remains to be seen. Rich Flower

Venue Britannia Stadium, Saturday 3pm

Tickets £25-35 (01782 367599)

Last season n/a

Referee Mike Jones

This season's matches 8 Y38, R3, 5.12 cards per game

Odds Stoke 5-6 QPR 4-1 Draw 13-5

Stoke

Subs from Nash, Sorensen, Palacios, Wilson, Shotton, Upson, Wilkinson, Tonge, Whitehead, Walters, Jerome, Soares, Diao

Doubtful None

Injured Fuller (achilles, 26 Nov), Sidibe (knee, unknown)

Suspended None

Form guide LLLWLD

Disciplinary record Y19 R0

Leading scorer Walters 3

QPR

Subs from Murphy, Buzsaky, Smith, Orr, Derry, Puncheon, Perone, Hall, Andrade, Agyemang, Taarabt, Hill, Vaagan Moen

Doubtful Buzsaky (achilles), Hall (hamstring), Orr (achilles), Taarabt (fatigue)

Injured Connolly (ankle, 26 Nov), Campbell (foot, 21 Dec), Dyer (foot, Jan), Hulse (knee, unknown)

Suspended None

Form guide LLWDLD

Disciplinary record Y16 R2

Leading scorer Helguson 3

Match pointers

• The last top-flight meeting between these sides was in December 1984 and it ended in a 2-0 win for QPR – Gary Bannister and John Gregory got the goals

• There has been a red card in each of the last three league matches between these sides

• Only Wigan (6%) have scored with a lower percentage of their shots than QPR (9%)

• Stoke have won only six of their 17 home Premier League games against teams from London

• QPR have used 26 different players so far this season, only Arsenal (27) using more