City's struggling stars Liam Lawrence and Rory Delap are both closing in on a return to full training.

The pair have spent the past few training sessions nursing injuries and although they are set to miss tonight's friendly with Bad Aussee, they could participate in Friday's glamour tie with Real Madrid.

Winger Lawrence, sporting his new shaven head, is out with a groin strain aggravated during the match with Huddersfield Town last week.

Delap is still working hard to get up to full fitness following his substitution for exhaustion at Macclesfield Town.

Russell Hoult meanwhile has suffered a cracked rib that is heavily affecting his shoulder, and has been ruled out of contact training for the entire trip.

The rest of the squad are all available for selection tonight, and remember to keep logging on to stokecityfc.com for live score updates throughout the game.

Kick off is 6:30pm Austrian time, 5:30pm UK.