Mehdi Leris will return to the Stoke City squad this week after undergoing concussion protocols. Leris took an unintentional whack on his head from teammate Ki-Jana Hoever during a 0-0 draw with Millwall in Steven Schumacher’s first game as head coach on December 23. He has had to sit out for 12 days and will be available again when Stoke host Brighton and Hove Albion in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.

Jordan Thompson will miss that tie, however. The midfielder will serve a one-match ban for picking up two yellow cards against Ipswich Town on New Year’s Day. Red cards are not competition specific and he will lose his place in the team – and his total yellow card count in the league stays on six. Players receive an automatic two-game ban if they reach 10 yellows up to and including the 37th match of the season.

England youth keeper Tommy Simkin is cup tied after playing for Solihull Moors against Bolton Wanderers in the first round while on loan earlier this season.

Captain Josh Laurent is likely to be out until February due to a high ankle sprain while it sounds like Lynden Gooch (calf) will be touch-and-go to be in contention for the next league match, at Rotherham on January 13

It leaves Stoke short on the full-back front because Enda Stevens is still at least a couple of weeks away from returning and Junior Tchamadeu is flying out to represent Cameroon at the African Cup of Nations. If Cameron go all the way, he could be in Ivory Coast until February 11. Thompson, Gooch and Hoever have been deputising at left-back in recent matches.

Tyrese Campbell is hoping to join in full training soon and be back fit this month. He hasn’t played since scoring against Schumacher’s Plymouth back on December 2

“He’s doing well,” said Schumacher at the end of last week. “He’s nearly up to full speed and it won’t be long before he’s training with the group. It’ll then take a couple of weeks to get into full speed of the training sessions. Hopefully it won’t be too long before we see him back on the pitch because he’s going to be a good player and an important player in the run-in.

“Enda is the same as Tyrese, not quite as advanced. It’ll be a week or two after Tyrese when he joins in. It’s nothing too serious. All the little niggles that we’ve got at the moment are not long term but the more we can get the squad as strong as possible give us the best chance to win.”

Ben Pearson picked up what looked like an innocuous injury at the end of a draw with Watford on Friday night, ruling him out on New Year’s Day. D’Margio Wright-Phillips is available for selection in the cup despite not being named in Stoke’s squad for the league.

Ben Wilmot made his first appearance in almost three months when he came off the bench against Ipswich. He injured his knee colliding with a post during a match against Southampton on October 3 – his second freak injury of the calendar year after fracturing his back in April.

“Felt good to be back out there,” he wrote on social media. “Great performance from the lads to get the point. Stadium was rocking. Solid start to the new year.”