Zola fielding weakened side

West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola was unable to field the same team which won at Portsmouth on December 26 for the visit of Stoke, with injuries and suspensions forcing his hand.

Striker Craig Bellamy served a one-match ban so Luis Boa Morte was selected to start alongside Carlton Cole, while Calum Davenport, Mark Noble and Lucas Neill all failed to recover from knocks.

Julien Faubert, David di Michele and James Collins replaced them.

Stoke made two changes to the team which lost to Manchester United, with Andy Griffin back after

an ankle injury to replace the suspended Andy Wilkinson and Seyi Olofinjana brought in for Amdy Faye.