Arsenal have a number of injury problems as they prepare to host a Reading side under the management of new boss Nigel Adkins.
Arsene Wenger will be without England duo Jack Wilshere (ankle) and Theo Walcott (hip/thigh).
Midfielder Abou Diaby is also absent after being ruled out for nine months with anterior cruciate ligament damage in his left knee.
Left-back Kieran Gibbs will be assessed after being laid low by a virus but forward Lukas Podolski (ankle) and right-back Bacary Sagna (knee) should be available again, while goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and captain Thomas Vermaelen are eyeing recalls.
New Reading manager Adkins will have striker Pavel Pogrebnyak available after a three-match suspension.
Former Gunners trainee Stuart Taylor is likely to again deputise for goalkeeper Adam Federici, who has been sidelined with an ankle injury.
Attacking midfielder Jimmy Kebe continues to battle against a groin problem and forward Jason Roberts (hip) remains sidelined.
Pulis' second spell at the Britannia Stadium will reach seven years in the summer.
Much of his tenure has seen Stoke on an upward curve, but a recent dip in results has led some to question his position.
It was suggested that Pulis was considering his own future, with it possible that he could walk away at the end of the season.
He is adamant, however, that he has no such plans and retains his enthusiasm.
Pulis said: "It's a case of do you care and are you prepared to fight for it?
"Do you have sleepless nights for it and everything else that goes with it? Nobody knows what managers go through in lots of respects and it's still happening with me.
"When it stops happening, that will be the time to pack it in.
"You wake up some nights thinking about things you want to do. Your mind is non-stop. It keeps flickering. You just can't switch off."
