Matthew Etherington

Etherington has returning to training after suffering a back injury, although he will not play this weekend against Hull City, the Stoke Sentinel reports. Manager Mark Hughes said Etherington "is fit, but hasn't had a great deal of training, so he's going to do extra work with the under-21s and play [Friday]. So he will not be in the squad, but will be ok next week."

Etherington netted the lone goal in Saturday's 1-0 win over Norwich.

Etherington bagged both Stoke goals in Sunday's 2-1 win over Tottenham.

Stoke is trying to give Etherington as much opportunity to recover in time to play in the FA Cup final as possible, despite a scan showing a torn hamstring, according to the Telegraph.

Etherington's FA Cup final is in jeopardy after injuring his hamstring against Wolverhampton Tuesday, reports the Premier League.