Mark Hughes has admitted that Stoke City will miss captain Ryan Shawcross in their Premier League match against Fulham this weekend.
The defender is suspended after picking up two yellow cards during last week's 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
The manager told reporters: "Having lost Robert Huth early in the season, Ryan has had to show a great level of leadership. Maybe in a strange way losing Rob has helped Ryan to grow as a captain.
"Losing Rob was a big blow to us all and we've really missed him on occasions but Ryan and Marc have played well to fill that hole.
"We will miss Ryan tomorrow too, because he is a real leader and it would have been nice to have seen him play in every minute of every game. Unfortunately that wasn't meant to be."
Stoke currently sit 10th in the table.
