Newcastle's caretaker-manager Nigel Pearson is facing a major selection headache ahead of Wednesday night's FA Cup third-round replay against Stoke.

Central midfielders Alan Smith and Nicky Butt are suspended, while Habib Beye, Abdoulaye Faye, Geremi and Obafemi Martins are away on African Nations Cup duty.

Emre is likely to start his first game since Boxing Day, while youngsters Andy Carroll and Kazenga LuaLua could be included in the squad, although Joey Barton will not figure despite his return to training.

Stoke left-back Carl Dickinson is expected to be fit in time for the clash.

Dickinson limped out of the game against Ipswich on Saturday with a dead leg but should play, while fellow defender Andy Wilkinson is facing a late fitness test after suffering a groin injury in the same game.

If Wilkinson fails to recover then Gabriel Zakuani will step in.

Mamady Sidibe is at the African Nations and Dominic Matteo is still injured, while former Newcastle defender Andy Griffin did not register with the club in time to be eligible for the replay.

"I'm expecting Carl to be fit as things stand," Stoke manager Tony Pulis told the Stoke Sentinel. "He's responded very well to treatment for the dead leg he received at Ipswich.

"The news is also encouraging about Andy because we thought he might be out for a while with the groin strain. I'd say Andy is 50-50 at the moment, so it looks like a late decision on whether or not we go with him."