LIAM Lawrence should finally become a Portsmouth player today – 24 hours after his move from Stoke was thrown into turmoil, writes Martin Spinks.

Lawrence was left thinking he might be forced to return to the Potteries after Portsmouth revealed the paperwork on his deadline-day transfer hadn't gone through in time.

That would have left him in limbo, because Stoke boss Tony Pulis had already named his 25-man squad for the Premier League between now and January.

But Portsmouth and Stoke have obtained permission to strike an emergency loan deal which will see Lawrence move to Fratton Park on temporary terms, before making the move permanent in the January transfer window. Stoke's chief executive Tony Scholes has stressed that everything was done by the book and in time at the Britannia Stadium on last Tuesday's deadline day.

"We had everything done in good time at this end," he said, "but clearly a problem appears to have since occurred.

"However, we have been working hard with Portsmouth to find a solution and something will hopefully be resolved shortly."

Clubs are only allowed to sign two standard loans from the same parent club and Portsmouth already have Potters duo Carl Dickinson and Ibrahima Sonko on their books.

But Lawrence's move will be classed as an emergency loan, bypassing that restriction.

Meanwhile, keeper Thomas Sorensen was on his way back to Stoke for treatment and a possible scan today after pulling out of Denmark's Euro 2012 qualifier against Iceland last night.

Sorensen trained with Denmark and encountered no immediate discomfort in the arm he injured on the opening day of the season at Wolves. But he subsequently suffered pain and swelling the following day, which forced him to pull out.

Sorensen now has five days to recover in time for Monday's visit of his former club, Aston Villa.