Stoke City striker James Beattie is still being hampered by a thigh problem and is only a 50-50 chance of returning to the pitch this weekend.

With six goals in 12 appearances for the Potters since crossing from Sheffield United, Beattie is the main man at the Britannia Stadium but he admits he may not be right for the clash with West Ham on Saturday.

"The injury is progressing, but I don't really know what the crack will be come the weekend. We'll have to wait and see, but hopefully I'm in with a shout," he told The Sentinel.

"I did some running before the Fulham game on Saturday and again this week with no reaction, but it's the first time I've had this injury in my career, so it's something new to me.

"It's hard for me watching games of football when you should maybe be out there, but I thought I would go down and support the lads at Fulham because we need the points.

"It was great to see our supporters down there and a few of my friends who play for Fulham were complimenting our fans on the noise they made.

"Everybody has put in a tremendous effort to be where we are today and we will be pushing to get as many points as we can.

"We've got 39 points and we are quite proud of that, but we still want more."