Stoke City will be hoping to bounce back from their 1-0 defeat at Anfield on the first day of the season, when they face Ian Holloway's Crystal Palace at the Britannia Stadium this weekend. 

Although Mark Hughes was denied very respectable draw in his first competitive game in charge by a late Simon Mignolet penalty save last weekend, his side showed signs of marked improvement.

Mark Hughes instructed his side to pass the ball around and become less predictable in the final third, a tactic that has impressed wide player, Mat Etherington: "I can't speak highly enough of the training we've had since we came in for pre-season. It's been top notch, real top-class training. I think the longer we go on doing what the manager wants and him drumming it into our heads and implementing it every day in training, we will get better. We passed the ball well at Anfield, but at times we could have used it better. If you're a Stoke City fan you can definitely see improvement in the team in an offensive sense and the fact we want to get the ball down. I can only see good things for us this year, definitely." The Crystal Palace game will be seen as an opportunity to implement this new style further, and pick up three vital early season points.

Crystal Palace will come to the Britannia stadium on the back of a 1-0 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur, but will do so with confidence. The newly promoted side put in a strong performance, and were perhaps unfortunate to concede from a debatable penalty kick, which Ian Holloway was later charged by the FA for reacting angrily to.

Holloway will be hoping that new signing, Jason Puncheon, can provide some much needed offensive penetration this weekend, something which, although Palace were impressive at times against Spurs, ultimately lacked without the mercurial talents of Zaha. 

Stoke will be without Wilson Palacios, Brek Shea, and Jamie Ness this weekend, whilst will have do without Jerome Thomas, Glen Murray, Yannick Bolasie, and Paddy McCarthy.

Last Meeting:

January 2013, F.A. Cup 3rd round replay: Stoke City 4 - 1 Crystal Palace

Stoke City goal scorers: Jones '69 Walters '95 '110 Jerome '120

Crystal Palace goal scorers: Murray '87