(Reuters) - Stoke City defender Bruno Martins Indi will miss Saturday's Premier League clash against Crystal Palace with a groin strain, manager Paul Lambert said on Thursday.
Dutch defender Martins Indi was taken off after 52 minutes in last weekend's goalless draw with Liverpool and has not been able to shake off the problem in time for the visit of 11th-placed Palace.
"It will pretty much be the same squad this weekend, with the exception of Bruno Martins Indi," Lambert told a news conference on Thursday.
"Unfortunately he has a knock and hasn't recovered in time, so he'll miss out. He may be back for the game with Swansea City next weekend, we will have to wait and see how he progresses."
Stoke are second from bottom in the standings with 30 points and battling to retain their top flight status with two games remaining in the current campaign.
Lambert, who won the Champions League as a player at German club Borussia Dortmund in 1997, said that keeping Stoke up would match that achievement.
"I've been really fortunate to win the Champions League as a player and win league titles but keeping this club up would be up there in terms of my achievements," Lambert added.
"I expect a tough game. Roy Hodgson has done a great job (as manager of Crystal Palace). They are practically safe so whether that's a good or a bad thing for us I don't know.
"There is no point looking at other teams doing you favours, you have to go and do your job first and foremost which is what we're aiming to do."
Forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and defender Kostas Stafylidis will also be unavailable for the match with injuries.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
