Stoke striker Mamady Sidibe is primed to return from the agony of cruciate ligament damage in Tuesday night's Carling Cup tie at Portsmouth.

The Mali international, one of the most powerful players in the air in the Premier League, has been out of action since undergoing surgery in March.

But Stoke boss Tony Pulis has been delighted with what he has seen of Sidibe on the training field and the 29-year-old played an hour for the reserves last week.

Pulis said: "Mama worked tremendously hard on his rehabilitation and has been back in full training since the start of the month.

"He's done everything the other lads have done on the training pitch and has come through with no ill-effects.

"Mama only came off in the reserve game because he had a dead leg and I know he would love to play tomorrow.

"He's a big, strong and very determined lad and I wouldn't be surprised if he got through 90 minutes for us.

"It's great to have him back with the group. Mama's played a big part in the success we've had and I'm sure he has another big part to play."

Sidibe is set to take his place in a largely second string line-up, with Pulis ready to give a whole host of fringe players a much needed outing.

He made 11 changes for Stoke's thrilling 4-3 victory over Blackpool in the third round and makes no secret of the fact it will be a similar story on Tuesday.

Pulis said: "I'll say this quite openly because we will make changes to give players a run. It is our squad which will keep us in the Premiership, not the team.

"But we won't be fielding a team of kids. We will be picking a team of senior players who will all be very capable of putting on a good performance.

"We've done smashing to win at Leyton Orient and beat Blackpool and we will be going to Portsmouth with the aim of getting into the quarter-finals."

The Stoke side will certainly not lack experience, with Sidibe set to be joined by the likes of Tuncay, Dave Kitson and Liam Lawrence in an attacking line-up.

Danny Higginbotham, who lost his place after Danny Collins' arrival from Sunderland, will feature in a defence which will also include Andy Griffin and Leon Cort.

And a strong Stoke bench is likely to be made up of several of the team which pulled off a shock victory at Tottenham on Saturday.

Ricardo Fuller and Matthew Etherington turned the game on its head after they came on against Blackpool in round three, with Stoke scoring all four of their goals in the final 15 minutes.

Pulis added: "I'm looking forward to what should be a very good and entertaining game.

"Fratton Park is unique in that it has been Portsmouth's home for more than a hundred years. The Pompey fans really get behind their team and it is a place with a special atmosphere."