Stoke duo to miss trip to Watford

Stoke City captain Ryan Shawcross and midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri have been ruled out of Saturday's Premier League trip to Watford, while defender Eric Peiters could also miss the game due to a calf injury.

Shawcross picked up a back injury in the dying minutes of last weekend's home defeat by Southampton, while Shaqiri injured a muscle in his thigh, manager Mark Hughes told reporters.

"Ryan is ok, but he isn't going to be ready for the game on Saturday, sadly," Hughes added.

"We fully expect him to be okay for the game against Swansea City in a couple of weeks' time, whilst hopefully we will have Xherdan back then too.

"Erik is one that we are going to have to wait on but he hasn't trained this week at all, so we will give him 24 hours before making a decision."