Good afternoon all and thank you for joining us as we bring you live coverage of Stoke City's Premier League clash with visitors West Ham United at the bet365 Stadium.

Both of these teams currently find themselves in the middle of the Premier League standings, with just one point separating 11th-placed Stoke and the 14th-placed Hammers. As it stands, Mark Hughes and Slaven Bilic's charges are among a number of clubs aiming to avoid the pressure of dropping down into the scrambling relegation pack.

Things have not played out too kindly for Stoke in recent weeks. The Potters have lost five times in their last six matches. The club's only points in that run of games came via a win against Hull City in their last game at the 365.

Proceedings were beginning to look slightly dangerous for West Ham following a run of difficult fixtures in the league. The Hammers have only won only once in their last 10 league fixtures. However, they are now unbeaten in their last three Premier League matches games after collecting a win and two draws in recent weeks.

Time for some team news now...

STOKE CITY STARTING XI: Butland; Johnson, Shawcross, M. Indi, Muniesa; Cameron, Whelan, Allen; Shaqiri, Berahino, Arnautovic

STOKE CITY SUBSTITUTES: Grant; Bardsley, Pieters, Adam, Diouf, Crouch, Ramadan

WEST HAM UNITED STARTING XI: Adrian; Fonte, Reid, Collins, Fernandes; Kouyaté, Nordtveit, Masuaku, Lanzini; Ayew, Calleri

WEST HAM UNITED SUBSTITUTES: Randolph, Cresswell, Feghouli, Snodgrass, Noble, Byram, Fletcher

So the major news for Stoke fans is that frontman Jon Walters has been able to recover from a knee injury in time for this clash. Instead, the hosts are to lead with a frontline of Xherdan Shaqiri, Saido Berahino and Marko Arnautovic up top, while Geoff Cameron Glenn Whelan and Joe Allen are to form a three-man midfield.

As for the Hammers, they have retained the same starting XI that drew with Everton last weekend. One plus point for the visitors is that both Mark Noble and Sam Byram are on the bench having returned from suspension. Cheikhou Kouyate, Winston Reid and Arthur Masuaku all make the side again despite nursing reported knocks.

Last week's goalless stalemate with Everton proved to be an important fixture for the Hammers. Bilic's men have now kept two clean sheets in their last three league fixtures, despite a run of conceding in 10 games prior to producing those recent shutouts.

Should the away side want to take points away from this clash, West Ham will need to improve on their defending in the closing stages. Statistics show that the Hammers have conceded in the 83rd minute or beyond in every one of their last four league games on the road.

Goals have been one major stumbling block for today's hosts in recent weeks. Stoke have failed to score in four of their previous seven league games. Striker Berahino has now also gone 24 league games without notching.

One advantage that might just sway in Stoke's favour today is their home advantage - that is if history is to be believed. West Ham The Hammers have won on just one of their last seven visits to Stoke across all competitions.

Hughes too boats a rather impressive record when facing up against the Hammers. The Stoke boss is unbeaten against West Ham in the Premier League, having won three and drawn four of their last seven meetings together.

Stoke often proves a difficult place to visit for sides travelling to the 365. Long have Stoke been known for an impressive array of set-piece tactics, although West Ham have proven adroit from a dead-ball situation this campaign. The Hammers have actually scored a league-high 20 goals from set pieces this term, even with Andy Carroll missing a large proportion of games.

Both managers have been speaking about the importance of this contest in the build-up to today. Here's what Stoke coach Hughes has had to say, according to BBC Sport:

"The mood's fine. We're looking forward to the game. It's an important one for us, clearly. We were obviously disappointed with the result last weekend but, I've said all season, when we've had a disappointment, more often that not we've bounced back. And I fully expect us to have a good performance in front of our home crowd, get past 40 [points] and see if we can finish the season on a high."

As for Hammers coach Bilic, he is insisting that his charges look at their four remaining fixtures as individual cup finals:

"People are talking about who is safe but it is irrelevant. We have four games left, a big game on Saturday and we are looking for points. There is a gap between us and mid-table, it is a small gap but with four games to go we are talking about 12 points and we have to concentrate on our next game. We are approaching them as four cup finals."

Stoke look to be safe excluding a damaging run in the closing stages of the season. One player that will be delighted despite the club's struggles is keeper Jack Butland. The youngster will be making his second consecutive appearance today after coming back from being out for 13 months with ankle problems last week.

Berahino's problems in front of goal have been brought into the spotlight in recent weeks following Stoke's lack of thrust in attack. This fixture could be slightly different for the frontman, though, given that he has scored in three of his four previous starts against West Ham in the league.

Potters coach Hughes could reach an important milestone today should his side prove victorious. The former Manchester United striker's next win as manager in the league would be his 150th. Only Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Harry Redknapp, Arsene Wenger, David Moyes and Sam Allardyce have previously reached that mark in the English top flight.

The weather in Stoke is looking pretty sturdy this afternoon. Temperatures are around 12 degrees Celsius with overcast conditions. There is a very slight chance of rain, but we're not expecting much in the way of the wet stuff.

We're just over five minutes away from kick off and it is time to make a prediction. A draw will likely suit both sides, but you get the feeling that they'll each be aiming for three points here, especially with so few games left. The Hammers have come into a some sort of form in recent weeks, whereas Stoke have found themselves struggling. I fancy this being level come the end of 90 minutes: 1-1!

The 365 is filling up nicely now as we await the arrival of the players, who have started to gather in the tunnel below.

Here they are then... the players emerge from the tunnel to the applause of both sets of fans. Just a couple of minutes to go!

KICKOFF! So the visitors get us underway here in their claret and blue strip, while Stoke feature in red and white. The ball is moved quickly into the path of Lanzini, who has a go from distance but is easily thwarted by Butland in the centre of goal.

The Hammers have perhaps shaded these opening moments and have been moving the ball around confidently in the middle. The visitors get the chance to turn in a corner from the right, but Shawcross clears at the first time of asking.

CLOSE! Stoke move forward at pace and Berahino almost ends his goal drought. The ball is played wide to Arnautovic who has the beating of his marker. The ball is then moved inside to Berahino, who takes a touch before seeing his adroit shot smothered down low by Adrian.

Stoke are slowly growing into the fixture and they make good progress down the right channel through Shaqiri, who is eventually upended by Masuaku. The Swiss is furious as the referee waves play on... Not much to report in the way of early chances other than the one created by Berahino.

West Ham are slack with possession in the middle of the park, leaving Stoke with the chance to break on the counter for Shaqiri. It looks as though the hosts might find a way through, only for Reid to get a vital foot to the ball.

YELLOW CARD! This fixture might just be won by the side who is able to turn the ball over best in the middle. Kouyate robs Stoke this time and he gallops forward before being dumped to the ground by a retreating Muniesa. An obvious yellow...

The Potters put together a nice spell of possession on the edge of the Hammers box. It looks as though Johnson and Berahino might combine for the one-two, although Collins has other ideas at the heart of the West Ham defence. This contest is just starting to simmer now.

West Ham drop the fanciness and aim for something a little more caveman now as Fernandes pings a long one over the Stoke defence. Calleri aims to peel off the back of his man, but doesn't have the strength to hold off the advances of a commanding Martins Indi.

Muniesa has his heart in his mouth now as he brings down Kouyate once more to stop a threatening counter attack. The full-back escapes a second yellow and by gosh does he look relieved! The Hammers seem dangerous when they're able to win the ball in the middle and spring out from the centre.

ALMOST! What a save from Butland... Masuaku puts in another smart foray forward down the West Ham left before delivering a whipped ball into the middle of the Stoke box. Ayew rises highest with an impressive overhead kick, which Butland reacts to in an instant to palm the ball away from goal.

The Hammers have upped the anti in the past few minutes, but Stoke are currently holding firm as things stand. Both teams have had decent chances now as we approach the final 10 minutes of the first half. Shaqiri is left with too much room on the right, but his delightful ball into the box goes unpunished when nobody decided to gamble on a run into the middle.

CLOSE! Shaqiri is the orchestrator again now as he chips a clever through-ball behind for the run of Johnson. The full-back cuts his pass back into the path of Arnautovic, whose close-range shot is blocked just in front of goal.

The chances are beginning to fall to the hosts now and this time an industrious ball is sent into the middle, where Collins just about beats the leap of Allen to head away for a corner.

Ayew does really well to turn and beat Martins Indi, who is then forced to bring down his man on the halfway line. If West Ham can get those moments right they might be able to force the issue on the counter here.

End-to-end stuff! The move starts with Masuaku as he comes inside to find Lanzini. The youngster opens up the pitch with ball to Fernandes on the overlap, but his shot sails miles over the crossbar without troubling Butland.

CLOSE! Collins picks out a wonderful ball over the back-line for Calleri, who can't quite find the final ball across the face of goal. The striker gets another go with the rebound, but his cheeky rabona is blocked by Martins Indi just in front of the goal. He might have been a touch too elaborate there. That was certainly a wasted chance.

So referee Lee Probert calls time on an entertaining first half and you could argue that either side deserves to be in front. Stoke have dominated possession at times and had that great chance with Berahino early on, although West Ham have shown more than enough enterprise going forward and would have been leading had it not been for Butland's heroics.

Both manager will be relatively happy with their first-half displays. Stoke have looked good on the ball, but slightly susceptible to the counter - especially when Kouyate gets moving through the middle. As for West Ham, Bilic will likely be asking for more of the same. HIs charges have caused real problems when turning the ball over in the middle.

KICKOFF! Stoke get things moving again in the second period. The Hammers have made a change with Aaron Cresswell coming on to replace Masuaku. The young full-back is put under immediate pressure and he almost pays as Allen glances his header wide of the near post.

CLOSE! Kouyate is causing all sorts of problems in this game. This time he comes off from the right and is able to flash a testing shot across the face of goal and wide with Butland looking beaten.

Picking up with the same tempo as the first period, Stoke come back now through Shaqiri's charge towards goal. The playmaker picks his head up looking for the pass, but is then dispossessed on the edge of the box by Reid.

Calleri has blown hot and cold thus far here at the 365. This time the striker shows some great movement, though, in order to collect Reid's ball over the top. Luckily for Stoke, Shawcross gets across in time to stick the ball out for a corner.

CLOSE! West Ham win a smart free kick on the right side of the Stoke half. The whipped delivery perfectly picks out a rising Fonte, who can only flash a strong header across the face of goal and wide. That should have been a goal. He'll be kicking himself for missing that.

The visitors go to sleep for a moment and Allen almost makes them pay. The midfielder finds some room on the edge of the area before flashing a drilled effort across the ground where Adrian saves.

SAVE! Berahino springs to life out of nowhere as he moves wide of the box to receive a through-ball from Shaqiri. The striker takes his shot first time and forces Adrian into a smart stop with a strong right hand at the far post.

SAVES! Kouyate does brilliantly again, this time as he robs possession and moves forward at pace. The ball is fed into the channel for Ayew, who forces another wonderful save from Butland. The skipper is then required to make another worldie to deny a Calleri header.

Kouyate is working wonders in this contest. He again leads the counter through the middle before unleashing Cresswell on the left flank. The full-back has a great chance to deliver into the area, but his cross is a poor one and flies out for a throw-in.

SUBSTITUTION: A slightly bemusing decision now as Bilic decides to remove the impressive Ayew for Mark Noble. Perhaps that means Lanzini and Kouyate will be given further license to roam in the final 20 minutes...

Is there a winning goal in this? It's come as a surprise that things have somehow remained level so far, there have been plenty of chances in both halves.

SAVE! Whatever Butland can do, Adrian can do better... Shaqiri turns the mother of all balls into the box for Arnautovic, who sees his header saved on the line by the Spaniard, who somehow manages to make two saves as he falls back into his own net having denied the Stoke playmaker.

Adrian has to show some quick thinking after Shaqiri nips in behind, thankfully for West Ham the keeper has his wits about him and comes off his line to hoof clear without trouble.

SUBSTITUTIONS: Both sides makes changes as Charlie Adam takes the place of Whelan and Robert Snodgrass replaces Calleri.

Snodgrass comes alive down the right channel on the counter and he almost feeds in Kouyate inside the box, before the midfielder pulls up with what looks like a rather troublesome knock.

The intensity has slowly ebbed away here as we enter the final few minutes at the 365. Do we have a deciding goal waiting somewhere in the wings?

West Ham are trying to force everything now but it just isn't paying off. We're going to have four additional minutes here.

So there we have it, the referee calls time on an enthralling goalless draw. That game certainly deserved a goal at least. West Ham might have deserved to win that one but they'll likely be happy to take a point away from the bet365. That's going to be all from us today, thank you for joining!