TONY PULIS welcomed back highly-rated defender Ryan Shawcross from suspension . . . but was without goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen for the Barclays Premier League match against Fulham at the Britannia Stadium.

Shawcross returned at the heart of the defence along with captain Abdoulaye Faye, but Sorensen failed a late fitness test on the finger injury which he picked up in the FA Cup third round tie against York City on Saturday.

Steve Simonsen came in for Sorensen, while Danzelle St Louis Hamilton was named on the bench.

Strikers Tuncay and Mamady Sidibe also returned to action in place of James Beattie and Ricardo Fuller.

Fulham were boosted by the fact that central defender Brede Hangeland passed a late fitness test on a knee injury to take his place in the starting line-up.

CITY (4-4-2): Simonsen; Huth, Faye, Shawcross, Higginbotham; Lawrence, Delap, Whitehead, Etherington; Sidibe, Tuncay. Subs: St. Louis Hamilton, Whelan, Fuller, Beattie, Collins, Wilkinson, Diao.

FULHAM (5-3-2): Schwarzer; Kelly, Konchesky, Hangeland, Baird, Hughes; Gera, Murphy, Duff, Johnson, Zamora. Subs: Zuberbuhler, Nevland, Dempsey, Smalling, Greening, Kallio, Dikgacoi.

REFEREE: Mark Clattenburg