Mark Hughes takes Stoke to former club Blackburn in FA Cup fifth round

Mark Hughes takes his Stoke side to former club Blackburn in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday.

With the Potters safely in Premier League mid-table, Hughes will be targeting a good cup run, starting with victory against the club he spent two years as a player and where he built his reputation as a club manager.

However Hughes endured a tough time against another of his former sides in midweek with Manchester City running out 4-1 winners at the Britannia Stadium in the Premier League, but he will be hoping for an improved performance at Ewood Park.

Blackburn will be looking to add Stoke to their list of top-flight scalps after seeing off Swansea in the last round.

Gary Bowyer's side are taking this competition seriously with striker Rudy Gestede and Ben Marshall rested in midweek with this game in mind but they will have to overcome a terrible recent record against the Potters.

Stoke are unbeaten in their last seven matches against Rovers, winning the last five meetings between the pair.

Team news

Jason Lowe will miss the visit of Stoke because of a foot injury.

Rovers will also be without David Dunn and Jay Spearing, who is cup-tied having played for Bolton in the competition already this season.

Meanwhile, Hughes is set to have Jonathan Walters available for the trip to Ewood Park.

The forward sat out Wednesday's defeat to Manchester City due to an ongoing knee issue that the Potters are trying to manage.

Erik Pieters (hernia) has an outside chance of featuring, but Ryan Shawcross (back), Marc Wilson (groin), Stephen Ireland (hamstring) and Bojan (knee) are not yet ready to make their returns from injury.

Jack Butland is set to get a run-out in goal, with regular number one Asmir Begovic being rested.

Betting

Stoke are Sky Bet’s 7/5 favourites to win on Saturday with Blackburn 19/10 to oust their Premier League visitors and 23/10 to force a replay.

The Potters head into the tie as 14/1 fifth favourites in the FA Cup outright, while Rovers are the fourth longest price of those remaining at 40/1.

Mame Biram Diouf heads the first goalscorer betting at 5/1 while 13-goal frontman Gestede is rated the hosts’ main threat at 11/2 to net first.