Stoke City are in League Cup action tonight as they look for a welcome distraction from their disastrous start to the Championship season.

Gary Rowett's men are languishing in the bottom half of the league and a 3-2 defeat at home to newly-promoted Blackburn on Saturday was their fourth loss in nine second-tier games.

However, they will focus on the cup tonight and travel to face Nottingham Forest in what should be a close encounter.

Yet, with promotion the priority this season, Rowett could make several changes as he focuses on the weekend clash at Rotherham.

Those players that do come in know that a big performance could land them a shirt for the game in Yorkshire.

Here we look at three fringe players who could get a start for the Potters at the City Ground later...

The centre-back endured an awful start to his Stoke career with a red card adding to a woeful performance against Wigan earlier in the season the last league game he featured in.

However, Stoke haven't exactly defended well since then. Despite his struggles, the Wales man should still be a good Championship player and will hope to force his way back into the side with a strong showing.

Another experienced player, Fletcher will believe that he has something to add to this team but there is serious competition for places in midfield.

Therefore, he will be hoping to impress to win his place back.

The talented Spaniard has been mainly restricted to substitute appearances this season and that will surely be frustrating the former Barcelona man.

Few would argue that Bojan has the quality to stand out in the Championship and a big performance against the Reds could see him earn a start on Saturday.