Preview: Luton Town vs. Stoke City - prediction, team news, lineups

Luton Town play host to Stoke City on Saturday afternoon with the opportunity to move within two points of the Potters in the Championship standings.

Meanwhile, Stoke, who sit just one point above the bottom three, could drop into the relegation zone with defeat at Kenilworth Road.

Match preview

Michael O'Neill will be relatively content with Stoke's recent form, collecting 14 points from their last nine outings at the second tier.

However, despite having also kept two clean sheets in a row, the Potters remain at risk of falling into the bottom three courtesy of the results of the teams below them.

With a run of six successive matches against teams in and around them in the table coming up, O'Neill knows that maintaining their current form may make all of the difference come the end of the season.

The Staffordshire-based outfit will be visiting Luton on the back of three matches without success on their travels, although avoiding defeat at in-form Blackburn Rovers in midweek will go down as a point gained by O'Neill and his players.

They may have the same feeling should they register a similar result against their next opponents, who have won three of their last four fixtures in the Championship.

At one stage, the Hatters looked cut adrift at the bottom of the standings, only for triumphs over Sheffield Wednesday, Middlesbrough and Brentford to put the club within four points of getting out of the bottom three.

Their resolve at the back has played a big part in their recent improvement, with two clean sheets being recorded and just four goals being conceded in as many outings.

While Graeme Jones will not get carried away, he will acknowledge that the next two games against Stoke and Wigan Athletic could define their season one way or another.

Luton Town Championship form: LLWWLW

Stoke City Championship form: LWLLWL

Team News

After the win on Tuesday night and having one more rest day than Stoke, Luton boss Jones may opt to retain the same starting lineup.

Although Danny Hylton is pushing for a recall, Harry Cornick and James Collins are likely to begin the game in attack.

Given the shorter turnaround, O'Neill may consider changes to his Stoke XI, especially in his five-man midfield.

Jordan Cousins and Mame Biram Diouf could be recalled to freshen up the team, potentially at the expense of Jordan Thompson and Tom Ince.

The backline should remain the same, leaving Aston Villa loanee James Chester to remain among the replacements.

Luton Town possible starting lineup: Sluga; Cranie, Pearson, Carter-Vickers, Potts; Mpanzu, Rea, Tunnicliffe; Berry; Cornick, Collins

Stoke City possible starting lineup: Butland; Smith, Batth, Collins, Martins Indi; Biram Diouf, Allen, Cousins, Clucas, Powell; Campbell

We say: Luton Town 1-1 Stoke City

With both teams having avoided defeat in their last outing, they will be confident of making further progress at the weekend. That could result in a hard-fought contest which ends with the clubs settling for a share of the spoils.