In their home tie in Europa League Group E at the Britannia Stadium, Maccabi simply could not cope with Stoke's threat from set-pieces and were 3-0 down with only 32 minutes gone. The sending-off of Cameron Jerome shortly after the third goal prevented Stoke from adding to their tally, but the result was never in doubt. Maccabi are a very different team at home at Bloomfield Stadium, though, where they are unbeaten in 12 European games stretching back to a 1-0 Champions League defeat by Bayern Munich in 2004. Complicating matters for Stoke is their heavy schedule, certainly not helped by their Barclays Premier League meeting with Newcastle being moved to Monday, meaning they have three games in six days including Sunday's league clash with Bolton at the Reebok Arena. There were signs during Monday's 3-1 loss to Newcastle, Stoke's first home league defeat of the season, that the extra games may be catching up with them. Pulis, though, is not planning to play a weakened team tomorrow and is confident his players will cope, with the carrot of an international break to come after this weekend. The Welshman said: "I think the game will be different tomorrow. The fact Maccabi have a fantastic home record shows they're a different proposition at home, and it's always difficult going to any ground and playing away. "We feel it will be a really tough game for us and we'll put a strong team out. We played Monday night, we play Thursday and we play Sunday but then it's international break so the players who aren't involved in international duty can have a few days off." As well as the blow of losing the game on Monday, Pulis also saw captain Ryan Shawcross and full-back Marc Wilson pick up injuries that have prevented them travelling to Tel Aviv. "It's all new and it's a work in progress," said Pulis of their European campaign. "By the end of this week we will have played 21 competitive matches, which is a lot of games, more than half what we played last year in the Premier League. "It's tough in lots of respects and you pick up injuries. I don't think Ryan Shawcross has ever had a muscular injury and he unfortunately went down on Monday. "We've got one or two others with knocks. We'll see how they go in training and then we'll have a meeting tomorrow and pick the team, and pick a team we hope can do the football club justice." Jerome will also miss out after his sending-off, as will Maccabi defender Yoav Ziv, who saw red later in the game after petulantly kicking off his boot and hitting an assistant referee. Pulis said: "On the night I didn't actually see the incident. I watched it on the television afterwards and I thought it was pretty funny. "I don't think he meant to kick his shoe at the linesman, so that was very unfortunate, but I don't think the linesman and the referee could do anything else but send him off. "I spoke to him after the game in the tunnel and he was a really nice lad. What was said and what was done during the heat of the game happens, it's a competitive sport." Maccabi boss Motti Iwanir is well aware of the threat Stoke will pose once again but expects his side to cope better than they did at the Britannia Stadium. Iwanir, who will be in the dugout for the first time in the group games after serving a three-match suspension, said: "In the two away matches we've struggled defensively even though in the centre of the park we managed to hold our own. "At home I think we'll become better opponents, stronger opponents. I know Stoke's physique, Maccabi are not the only team that struggle. Even in the Premier League they score goals because of their physique. "The most important thing is to keep them as far away from the penalty box as possible because that's where their advantage is clear." Maccabi picked up their solitary point with a draw against Dynamo Kiev at home, and Iwanir believes his players can take confidence from that result into tomorrow. "Let's not underestimate the physicality of Kiev, they're not a small side and we struggled to match them physically," he added. "Tomorrow we'll still aim to move the ball about in the centre of the field and up front to try to create chances. We trust our way and our system."
