Stoke confirm Shaqiri won’t feature against Luton but ex-Barca forward Bojan might

The 23-year-old became Potters club record signing after joining from Inter Milan in a £12m million deal recently, making his debut in the 1-1 draw at Norwich Cy on Saturday.

However, speaking to the press today, Bowen said: “He started incredibly brightly, but he will be the first to admit that he became a little bit jaded as the game wore on.

“It was the first time he has done 90 minutes for 3/4 months. He was very stiff yesterday and won’t be involved tomorrow.”

Even without Shaqiri, there remains a good chance Hatters will take on a team packed full of internationals as former Barcelona winger Bojan could be included to step up his match fitness after playing 90 minutes for the U21s last weekend.

Whoever the Potters decide to go with, Town boss John Still knows it will be a huge test for his side.

He added: “I think in the Premier League now you haven’t got to be top class, you’ve got to be world class.

“We’re going to play against some really good players, but I always say to my team whenever there’s a challenge in front of them, you become better players and better teams by playing against better players and better teams.

“We watched Stoke on Saturday and the seven on the bench were as good as the seven on the pitch. I’m not speaking for Stoke but this is a competition that Stoke might feel they have chance of winning or getting to the final. So they’ll be strong and we’ll have to be strong to match them.

“It’s a little break from the bread and butter and sometimes that can work in your favour, we’ll all look forward to it and hopefully all learn something from it.”