THE visit of the Baggies presents a huge opportunity for Dave Kitson, Stoke's miss-firing record signing who is expected to play up front in place of the suspended Ricardo Fuller.

Stoke had been keen for Fuller to play at least some part of the match, despite his late arrival back from international duty with Jamaica.

Fuller terrorised the Baggies in scoring a hat-trick at the Britannia last season, but now misses out altogether after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season during last week's defeat at Old Trafford.

West Brom will be delighted he is missing, but Kitson, pictured, will be eager to prove a point having struggled since his move from Reading.

Stoke's style this season hasn't particularly suited Kitson, suggesting that City boss Tony Pulis had planned to build a side with more pace and width when he paid £5.5m for the striker in the summer.

However, moves for Liverpool right-winger Jermaine Pennant and Cardiff left-winger Joe Ledley fell through, and Pulis has been further deprived of creativity by the loss of Liam Lawrence to an ankle injury.

Starting up front with Mama Sidibe, Kitson will try to build on his impressive Carling Cup performance against Rotherham earlier this month which deserved a goal.

West Brom's back four is unlikely to feature former Stoke favourite Carl Hoefkens, who has largely been stuck on the bench this season.

He has been ousted by Dutch defender Gianni Zuiverloon, who has made the right-back spot his own since signing for the Baggies in the summer for £2.3m from Heerenveen.

Zuiverloon was part of Mowbray's defensive rebuilding job which also included the arrival of centre-half Abdoulaye Meite.

The Ivory Coast international, who spent two years at Bolton, has missed 10 weeks of the season with a calf injury. However, he returned to action against Chelsea last week and should also line up at the Britannia.

A strapping centre-half, Meite also has pace, but doesn't look immune to the odd mistake. He will team up in central defence with Swede Jonas Olsson, another new recruit who cost the Baggies £800,000 from Dutch side Nec Nijmegen.

The 6ft 3in defender has impressed so far and, as you would expect in a Tony Mowbray side, looks good on the ball.

Left-back Paul Robinson has been with the Baggies for five years and played more than 200 games for them.

A typically tough-tackling full-back, he has also worked hard on his game to improve his contribution when going forward.

The back four protect keeper Scott Carson, who was under the spotlight on Wednesday when his mix-up with England captain John Terry gifted Germany their goal in Berlin. Luckily, Terry then bagged the winner in a 2-1 victory.

Carson had impressed for the Baggies until last Saturday's 3-0 home defeat to Chelsea when question marks were raised against him for two of the goals.

An excellent shot stopper, he hasn't yet had the chance to prove himself for West Brom against an aerial bombardment. Stoke will be keen to make sure he gets that opportunity at the Brit ... particularly after he snubbed the chance to join them in a £3m deal during the summer, opting for the Baggies instead.

GLENN Whelan, Tom Soares and Michael Tonge will all be hoping to have made it into Tony Pulis's first team as the manager ponders whether to make changes.

Stoke's current midfield four of Seyi Olofinjana, Amdy Faye, Salif Diao and Rory Delap is bristling with physicality and endeavour, but lacks the pace and width which Soares or Tonge would provide.

However, although the physical midfield created little at Wigan and Manchester United in the last fortnight, they have been a different kettle of fish at home.

The same midfield four helped Stoke deservedly beat Arsenal in City's last game at the Britannia Stadium.

As that worked against Arsene Wenger's side, Pulis will be tempted to play the same way against the footballing sophisticates of West Brom.

His mind will be made up for him if Olofinjana fails to recover from the back strain which has hampered him in training this week. If so, expect Soares, pictured, to come in on the right.

While Pulis has been criticised by some for fielding four combative midfielders, West Brom boss Mowbray has taken some flak for sending out a midfield without much of that defensive quality.

His likely midfield four of Robert Koren, Jonathan Greening, Borja Valero and Do-Heon Kim are all very good on the ball, but the Baggies lack an obvious holding player ... and they have paid the price by conceding on a regular basis this season. That said, they are also capable of hurting teams if given time and space. In particular Valero, who will partner Greening in central midfield, looks a potential match-winner.

Mowbray paid Real Mallorca £4.7m for the play-maker in the summer, a fee which has looked justified when he has impressed even in the defeats to Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United.

The Baggies are expected to be without former Middlesbrough midfielder James Morrison, who has a knee injury. That is a blow to Mowbray as Morrison can play all across the midfield and looks comfortable at this level.

Former Sheffield Wednesday winger Chris Brunt could yet edge out South Korea international Kim on the left if Mowbray decides to give his side more width.

THOMAS Sorensen will be even more keen than usual to keep a clean sheet after his worst afternoon as a Stoke City player so far.

The Dane has rivalled Abdoulaye Faye and Danny Higginbotham as Stoke's most successful summer signings so far this season, and he won't have expected to get walloped for five, even at Manchester United.

There were question marks against him for a couple of the goals but, as Lou Macari said in his Sentinel column this week, the keeper was no better or worse than the rest of his colleagues.

Another incentive is the fact Sorensen is pitted against Scott Carson, the keeper Stoke tried to sign in the close season before turning to him.

Getting the former Villa keeper on a free rather than paying Liverpool £3.25m for Carson has looked good business.

Sorensen will be looking to emphasise that point and return to the form which saw Stoke concede just one goal in three games before their Old Trafford grilling.

Sorensen, and Stoke's back four, deserve to be judged on their efforts before Old Trafford, so expect Tony Pulis to stick with the same defence of Andy Griffin, Ryan Shawcross, Abdoulaye Faye and Danny Higginbotham when the Baggies come calling.

None were at their best last week, but it's not easy to shine against Ronaldo, Tevez and Berbatov ... as some of the best defenders in the world have discovered to their cost.

This week Stoke's back line face the capable, but less heralded, strikeforce of Roman Bednar and Ishmael Miller.

Apart from being from the Czech Republic, Bednar is the epitome of an old-fashioned English centre-forward.

The 25-year-old is happy to give defenders a bit of a battering, will hold the ball up, lay it off and try to get into the area to finish moves off.

A solid performer, he is more consistent than strike partner Miller, but has less potential than the younger man.

Miller, aged 21, is still raw, but with bags of pace and power, he is capable of making defenders look silly with his turn and acceleration.

His finishing is still erratic, but a memorable effort in the 2-2 draw with Blackburn three weeks ago showed how good he can be on his day. Stoke must be on their guard.