Stoke City boss Mark Hughes is hoping Philipp Wollscheid is available for the weekend's clash with Sunderland.

The German defender has been in fine form for the Potters in recent times but is battling a pelvis injury ahead of Saturday's trip to the Stadium of Light.

With Stoke having kept three clean sheets on the trot, Hughes has his fingers crossed that Wollscheid can join captain Ryan Shawcross at the heart of the Potters' defence in a bid to continue that run.

"Unfortunately Philipp is a little bit sore with his pelvis," Hughes said.

"Hopefully he will train on Friday and will be able to feature at Sunderland.

"At the moment defensively we are very sound and that's giving us a platform to build on.

"The creative players in the team can then take confidence from that as they know if they lose the ball it might not allow the opposition to open us up."