Stoke City: Talking tactics v Portsmouth
Fuller has been limited to a substitutes' role in City's last two games because the bug leaves him dehydrated.
City looked a much more dangerous side against Chelsea once Fuller came on as a second-half substitute.
If fit, he will be hard to leave out, which leaves Pulis to drop either Dave Kitson or Mama Sidibe from his starting line-up.
Kitson has yet to score this season, but the £5.5m record signing has done a job for the team. When Fuller has played, Kitson's role has often been playing just behind the Jamaican.
However, Sidibe is probably the more natural in that role and has been in impressive form so far this season.
Leaving out Kitson would be a huge call, but Pulis will be tempted if Fuller is fit.
City will have to find a way past England keeper David James and a back four led by former England skipper Sol Campbell.
The 34-year-old Campbell looked his age in some of Pompey's ropey displays earlier in the season, but was back to his imperious best when they beat his old club Tottenham on Sunday.
He forms a hugely experienced central defensive partnership with Sylvain Distin, the 30-year-old former PSG, Newcastle and Manchester City defender.
Stoke's wide-men will have their work cut out stopping Pompey full backs Glen Johnson and Nadir Behhadj from wreaking havoc in Stoke's final third.
England international right-back Johnson and Algeria international left-back Belhadj both love to get forward and are sure to get plenty of assists this season.
OK, let's try to get through Stoke's midfield options without any doggy puns.
Liam Lawrence has heard them all after twisting his ankle when he tripped over his pet pooch.
That puts Lawrence in doubt for this weekend, leaving Pulis to paws for thought over a replacement. Sorry.
Should Lawrence fail to make it, Stoke will badly miss one of their most creative players.
True, Lawrence wasn't able to be much of an attacking threat against Liverpool and Chelsea. But that was because he had to help out defensively, so was kept on, yes, a tight leash.
City deserve better than to have two of their midfield stalwarts missing, but Rory Delap is touch and go after sitting out the Chelsea game with a hamstring injury.
Should both miss out, expect Richard Cresswell and Michael Tonge to be Stoke's widemen.
Which flank they will play on is less easy to predict as both are right-footed, but can play on the left.
Salif Diao is a certainty for central midfield following his excellent performances against Liverpool and Chelsea.
The former Liverpool and Portsmouth midfielder reckons he is still short of his best, so will become even more of an asset with more games under his belt.
His fellow ex-Pompey midfielder Amdy Faye is available having served a three-game suspension for his dismissal at Middlesbrough.
Faye came on for the final nine minutes of the Chelsea defeat, not really long enough to make a difference to the game.
He will be pressuring Seyi Olofinjana for the second spot in central midfield, but Olofinjana should have done enough to make the starting line-up.
Portsmouth are without Lassana Diarra, the former Chelsea and Arsenal midfielder who cost £5.5m in the summer.
Diarra is probably Pompey's best player, but misses out as he is suspended following his dismissal in last Sunday's 2-0 win at home to Tottenham.
In his absence, former Fulham and Tottenham midfielder Sean Davis is set to partner former Bournemouth man Richard Hughes in central midfield.
Both are combative midfielders, who will give as good as they get against the likely Stoke duo of Diao and Olofinjana.
Scotland international Hughes is the more defensive of Pompey's central midfield duo, but showed he is still an attacking threat when he twice came close to scoring against Spurs last week.
Armand Traore, a left-back on loan from Arsenal, can slot in on the left of midfield.
LEON Cort has barely put a foot wrong in Stoke's last two games, but the fact his one mistake against Chelsea cost a goal shows the unforgiving nature of the Premier League.
It's a sign of Stoke's strength in depth at the back that Cort now looks vulnerable as Tony Pulis puts his side together for Portsmouth.
Cort was outstanding after replacing Ibrahima Sonko mid-way through the first half at Anfield.
But Sonko is available after recovering from a lower leg injury and is a narrow favourite to get the second centre-back place alongside Abdoulaye Faye.
Stoke will no-doubt have issued Faye with a bubble-wrap suit, so important has he been to their defensive efforts against Liverpool and Chelsea.
That's not to overlook the contributions of captain Andy Griffin, at right-back, and Danny Higginbotham, at left-back.
Griffin is running into his best form and deserved better than to get the final touch on Jose Bosingwa's opener for Chelsea.
The 29-year-old's experience at this level is paying dividends, as is his ability to organise.
Meanwhile, Higginbotham has settled in so smoothly at left-back that it is easy to forget his preferred position is central defence.
Former Southampton defender Higginbotham is sure to get a hot reception from the Portsmouth faithful, but will be more concerned with doing a job on Portsmouth's right winger. That is set to be former Burnley and Reading wideman Glenn Little, who is expected to get the nod over the lightning quick, but inconsistent, John Utaka.
Pompey still have plenty of pace up front in Jermain Defoe, who forms a little and large partnership with Peter Crouch.
Defoe, at £7.5m from Spurs, and Crouch, at £9m from Liverpool, didn't come cheap.
However, they had bagged seven goals in eight games between them before Thursday's UEFA Cup tie away to Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes.
Crouch had scored once, while Defoe had found the net six times to further his England claims ahead of the World Cup qualifiers.
The aerial threat from the 6ft 7in Crouch is obvious, but the England international is also decent on the deck and far from a one-dimensional target man.
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