EPL: Stoke City v Crystal Palace preview

Stoke City v Crystal Palace preview

Stoke City manager Paul Lambert has no doubt that Saturday's home clash with Crystal Palace, is a "must-win" fixture for the Staffordshire club.

Second-bottom Stoke are three points adrift of safety with a goal difference significantly inferior to that of 17th-placed Swansea City, and have only two games left to play while their rivals above them in the table have three.

They will be relegated if they lose the lunchtime kick-off against Palace, and if they draw, could be confirmed as down later on Saturday following other results.

Stoke have drawn their last three matches, including 0-0 at Liverpool last time out, to make it 12 games without a win - a sequence in which they have scored only seven goals.

"We've been playing well. We haven't taken care of the last pass in the last third, or there's been a bit of luck against us. A lot of things have gone against us. But we've been playing well. The fight is there.

"We know we are playing well. I have got no doubt we can win [the last two games], we just need to be clinical at the top end when we do have a chance. "That's the thing that has probably hurt us the most - not being clinical enough to put games to bed."

Palace boss Roy Hodgson, meanwhile, has spoken of his pride at the likelihood of keeping the club in the Premier League, but does not yet know where the achievement ranks in his career.

Only a highly unlikely set of results can draw Palace back into relegation danger with two games remaining and, actually, a top-half finish looks a more realistic end to the campaign.

That would mark a brilliant job done by Hodgson at Selhurst Park following Frank de Boer's sacking, considering they were pointless and without a goal after four games when he arrived.

Even after 11 games, the Eagles' points tally was at four, so for them to be as good as safe pleases Hodgson.

"I am actually quite proud of what the players have achieved for this club, the way they have accepted all the things that have been thrown at us, the injuries, the misfortune in one or two games when we have played so well," the 70-year-old said.

"I am really proud of those achievements. I will look back on it and be proud of the work me and my coaching staff have done too. "But when you start ranking achievements it becomes difficult. I will tell you when I have been retired for two or three years and I don't know when that will be.

"When I do retire, I will look back on quite a few of my achievements and be proud of them and some of them might even surprise people. "Sometimes you can do some of your best work when you don't have the glittering prize to show for it."

Stoke defender Bruno Martins Indi will miss the game after coming off during the draw at Liverpool last weekend with a groin problem. Glen Johnson (groin) could be back involved having sat out the Anfield game, but Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (groin) and Kostas Stafylidis (rib) both remain unavailable.

The Potters have given Jese Rodriguez unpaid compassionate leave until the end of the season, effectively ending his loan from Paris St Germain.

Hodgson will pick from an unchanged squad against Stoke. Connor Wickham missed training on Thursday with a calf injury, but he was not expected to be involved anyway after a lengthy layoff. Scott Dann, Jason Puncheon and Bakary Sako remain long-term absentees, though Puncheon has returned to training,