Middlesbrough

"The club has been working for the last seven years, so we need to keep our heads down, we need to know who we are and just focus on the following game." Stoke's former England right-back Glen Johnson is doubtful with a quadriceps injury. Wales international Joe Allen, the B#13million summer signing from Liverpool, is in contention to make his debu... t while striker Marko Arnautovic (hamstring) and midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri (leg) have been passed fit. Forward Jon Walters is available after being eased through pre-season but midfielders Stephen Ireland (broken leg) and Ibrahim Afellay (knee) are long-term absentees. Stoke boss Mark Hughes hopes to give Middlesbrough an early lesson in the realities of Premier League life. Hughes said: "It is not one you would have chosen, facing a newly-promoted team with all the energy and confidence of winning week-in, week-out from the previous year. "That will still be their mindset, they'll be positive, but we have just got to make them aware, quickly, what the Premier League is all about. "We are an accomplished Premier League team in our own right and we have the ability to do that. "The crowd will be on a high and we will have to deal with that but we are looking forward to it. "We are taking 3,000 fans ourselves so we are going to get great backing. Our fans are great here but away from home they go that extra mile for us. There won't be a situation where we feel isolated out there."Read More