Stoke City manager Nathan Jones faces a late decision over whether to include Badou Ndiaye in the squad for the crucial clash with Huddersfield Town on tonight.

The 28-year-old midfielder was forced off with ankle injury during the second half of the 3-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Friday night and is now a doubt for the clash at the bet365 Stadium.

Midfielder Joe Allen is available again after serving his three-match suspension for his red card in the 2-1 defeat to Bristol City and could step in, should Ndiaye not be fit enough to feature.

Jones was speaking to the media ahead of the clash with the Terriers when he delivered the update and he also admitted that he probably should have taken the Senegal international off at half-time against Forest.

“It will be a late one in terms of Badou,” said Jones, as quoted by the club's official website.

“To be fair he probably shouldn’t have come out for the second half on Friday but he has so much desire to play. Whether he makes it in time, we will just have to wait and see.”

Stoke have made a poor start to the season and are currently bottom of the Championship table after taking just two points from a possible 27 so far this season.

Danny Cowley's Huddersfield have also made a disappointing start and are only above Stoke in the table on goal difference, although they ended their seven-match losing run with a draw against Millwall at the weekend.

The Verdict 

It's a massive game for Stoke against Huddersfield tonight and they will want their best players available, so it'll be a big boost if Ndiaye is fit.

It sounds like it's going to be a close call though and there's a chance that Stoke could potentially risk aggravating his injury further by playing him.

With that in mind, perhaps Allen might be the better option to call upon and it's good news for Stoke that he's able to step in following his suspension.

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