Albion's relegation rivals Stoke have been hit by international commitments ahead of Sunday's vital home game against Reading.

Influential centre half Sergei Shtaniuk and key midfielder Brynjar Gunnarsson have been called up by Belarus and Iceland respectively for friendlies this week.

Manager Tony Pulis said: "We are not happy. We have contacted the FAs to see if they would reconsider and we got a negative response.

"It surely cannot be right that a club is fighting for its survival and yet we lose two key players for most of the week building up to our biggest game of the season."

Pulis is calling on fan power to haul the Potters to safety. A crowd of over 21,000 watched last month's home win against Albion at the Britannia Stadium.

"When we recently had big gates against Brighton and Rotherham there is no doubt our fans helped us to win those matches," Pulis said.

"We need them again next Sunday for one more big game. What we must not do is panic.

"We are still in a good position to stay up. Brighton's result at Grimsby won't matter if we get that point and I would rather be in our position than theirs."