That's it... Sunderland scrape their way to a hard-earned point but still slip into the bottom three thanks to Leicester's win at Burnley.
Post update
And it goes out of play before reaching the box. What a waste by Gomez. Safe to say Wee Dick is raging on the touchline.
Post update
Big header by Ryan Shawcross, beating Jordi Gomez to a Billy Jones free-kick. Now for the corner...
CLOSE!
Oooft! Lee Cattermole drags a shot wide for Sunderland. We might still get a winner here.
INJURY TIME
We're getting another four minutes of this...
SUBSTITUTION
Phil Bardsley replaces Geoff Cameron for Stoke.
GREAT SAVE!
Sunderland's Costel Pantilimon has to use all of his 6ft 8in frame to claw a Charlie Adam 25-yarder past an upright.
CLOSE!
Jermain Defoe slithers a tame shot wide from the edge of the area as Sunderland search for a winner. The danger is they get caught on the counter and end up with nothing...
CLOSE!
Another crucial block, this time Sunderland's Sebastian Coates slides in to deny Peter Crouch.
CLOSE!
Eric Pieters steals in to prod out for a corner as Sunderland's Connor Wickham shapes to shoot from a promising position.
SUBSTITUTION
Lovely reception for Stoke's Peter Odemwingie as he comes on for his first appearance since suffering a serious knee injury in August. Jon Walters is the man making for the showers.
YELLOW CARD
Now Billy Jones goes into Martin Atkinson's book, the full-back being punished for grapping with Marko Arnautovic.
Join the debate at #BBCSTOSUN
Thomas Hewitt: I still think Sunderland, Newcastle & Middlesborough could all be playing in the same league next year... The Championship!
Post update
Sunderland players are throwing themselves in front of shots with admirable abandon here but they are dropping deeper and deeper towards their own goal.
Criminal record
GraphicCopyright: Graphic
Can they make it two draws from seven?
SUBSTITUTION
That's the end of Mame Biram Diouf's afternoon, with Peter Crouch loping on for the last 18 minutes or so.
GREAT SAVE!
Costel Pantilimon makes a crucial intervention to block from Mame Biram Diouf, who chested down Charlie Adam's free-kick and shot from little more than four yards out.
Post update
Let's talk hypothetically for a moment... Leicester are ahead at Burnley, which means that, as it stands, Sunderland have slipped into the bottom three.
Post update
I've been watching Charlie Adam since he was on loan at Ross County from Rangers in 2004 and rarely have I seen him more influential than this. The Stoke midfielder has been less of a goal threat this half, instead focusing on spearing sensational long passes from deep.
GREAT SAVE!
Asmir Begovic might just have redeemed himself for his early error, sticking out a leg to divert Billy Jones' shot wide after the Sunderland defender made a bullocking run though the heart of the home defence.
YELLOW CARD
It's getting niggly, now. John O'Shea is booked for tugging back Asmir Begovic.
CLOSE!
And a near thing at the other end as Patrick van Aanholt inadvertently directs Marko Arnautovic's cross at his own goalkeeper from close range.
GREAT CHALLENGE!
That's a splendid intervention by Stoke's Ryan Shawcross to thwart the rampaging Connor Wickham inside the area after Philipp Wollscheid slipped.
YELLOW CARD
Mame Biram Diouf has been booked for an overzealous attempt to block a Costel Pantilimon clearance. Frankly, the goalkeeper deserved it for dwelling on a backpass.
Sunderland have spent eight successive years in the top flight but they are very much looking over their shoulders. No complaints whatever about their support, who have been tremendous today.
CLOSE!
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You suspect The Little General has got right in about his Sunderland players at the interval as Dick Advocaat's side look much brighter at the beginning of this half. That said, Charlie Adam has just pinged another effort over the visitors' crossbar.
CLOSE!
Well, there's something. A Sunderland chance. Connor Wickham slides a pass in to Jermain Defoe, who rolls his man but shoots tamely at Asmir Begovic.
Post update
It's been a pretty drab start to the second period, characterised by poor passes and niggly fouls. I'll give you a nudge if something happens.
A right Charlie
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Charlie Adam's stunning equaliser has the teams level at the Britannia. It's very much worth watching out for on Match of the Day this evening.
KICK-OFF
Here we go, the teams are out. Sunderland's John O'Shea is among them with some kind of gel smeared across his slashed face. It's not a great look, to be honest.
Sunderland have made one alteration, though, with Danny Graham on for Will Buckley, who I didn't even notice in the first half, to be honest.
Post update
With nobody currently winning in the Premier League, this result would be neither grievous nor great for Sunderland as it stands. But given the way the game has gone, a point might not be the worst return for Dick Advocaat's side.
Post update
John Hartson
Former Wales striker on Final Score
"Charlie Adam doesn't score simple goals - when he retires I want a collection of them. He has smashed this one in."
Post update
Jermaine Jenas
Former England midfielder on Final Score
"This is a good Stoke side playing well - they've had 72% possession and that doesn't surprise me. Mark Hughes has not received the praise he deserves. If you look at Stoke's players today, they're hungry, they want to finish as high up the table as possible."
Post update
O'Shea, incidentally, strolled off holding tissues to both his forehead and his month as blood seeped from separate wounds. He'll spend the interval being patched up.
It could have been worse for Dick Advocaat and Sunderland after Stoke equalised but at half time it is 1-1.
Ouch!
Ooft, that's nasty. Sunderland's John O'Shea has just taken one of Marko Arnautovic's boots in the face after stooping for a header. The Irishman is currently flat out having blood mopped from his mouth and teeth picked out of his nose.
Post update
What is about about football fans that makes them want to stand in their fleshy pomp without a shirt on? One hefty Sunderland supporter has just put me right off my half-time pie.
Post update
Two minutes of added time are signalled. Best get the kettle on...
NOT CLOSE!
Sunderland have won a free-kick in a good position. Connor Wickham sizes it up, looks confident, and skies the ball into the car park.
Post update
Stoke's Jon Walters is playing with one of those protective faces masks on. It's transparent, though, and seems smaller than usual so it looks a little like he's wearing swimming goggles.
Post update
Another Charlie Adam dig with his weaker foot, but this time the Stoke midfielder is stretching and slices the ball high over the bar.
Post update
Marko Arnautovic tickles a easing cross along the six-yard box and John O'Shea heads behind for a corner, which comes to little.
Post update
The amount of room Stoke are getting down Sunderland's right flank is frightening. Poor Billy Jones is hopelessly exposed and the hosts are funnelling every attack towards him.
CLOSE!
Costel Pantilimon is called into action yet again in the Sunderland goal, this time gathering a speculative Marko Arnautovic effort.
Post update
Incidentally, that Charlie Adam goal was with his "standing" foot, rather than his more refined left.
CLOSE!
Ryan Shawcross heads a corner over the Sunderland crossbar. As it stands, it's hard to see Sunderland hanging on here...
Join the debate at #BBCSTOSUN
Gary Lineker
BBC Sport
Spectacular goal from Charlie Adam. He's turning into Matt Le Tissier.
Post update
Had it not been for the rigging, that Charlie Adam shot would still be rising...
GOAL - Stoke 1-1 Sunderland - Adam
Told you Charlie Adam was rampant. Jon Walters and Marko Arnautovic combine to roll the ball into his path and the Scottish midfielder screams a shot into the top left-hand corner of Costel Pantilimon's net.
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
CLOSE!
That's a huge opportunity spurned by Sunderland. Jermain Defoe scampers on to Lee Cattermole's long ball after Philipp Wollscheid slips but the striker blasts his shot into the side netting.
Join the debate at #bbcfootball
Aidan Mifsud: The Premier League would be a happier place without Hull and Sunderland
Gary Hunter: Sunderland winning after 50 seconds, unsure how to react
Yani Kapitanov: Certainly hope Sunderland stay up. They are the most unpredictable team in England.
CLOSE!
Charlie Adam is rampant here. His delicious curling delivery cuts out Patrick van Aanholt but Jon Walters swipes are fresh air as he tries to connect at the back post.
CHAMPAGNE MOMENT
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Sunderland lead thanks to Connor Wickham's 58-second goal. The striker, you may recall, is the man whose goals took Sunderland to safety at this stage of last term.
CLOSE!
He loves a dig, Charlie Adam, and the Scottish midfielder has just fizzed one over the Sunderland crossbar from 30 yards.
YELLOW CARD
Right, who had 18 minutes in Lee Cattermole Booking Bingo?
Post update
Costel Pantilimon has just taken three attempts to gather a Marko Arnautovic cross. Match of the Day commentator Steve Bower says that it's a bit windy pitchside, but even still...
CLOSE!
Ooft, that's close. Steven Ireland's volley glances off Sunderland defender Sebastian Coates and spins narrowly wide. Stoke are threatening here.
Post update
Jermaine Jenas
Former England midfielder on Final Score
"Sunderland have gone for a straight two up top and played Will Buckley in behind. It seems to have worked."
Post update
Lee Cattermole has just rapped his studs across Charlie Adam's thigh. Now that's a scrap I'd pay to see, but who'd win and why? Let us know at #BBCSTOSUN
CLOSE!
Remember when Stoke used to be all about second balls and positions of maximum opportunity? Well, not any more. The hosts have just constructed a lovely move involving Steven Ireland and Mame Biram Diouf that climaxed with Jon Walters lashing a shot into the midriff of Costel Pantilimon.
Post update
Stoke have scored in 11 of their last 12 games (it says here) and the odds on them doing so again this afternoon are small, you'd imagine. They've reacted well to conceding and have been camped in the Sunderland half...
Dick Advocaat has never been relegated as a manager...
Post update
That early goal has certainly roused Stoke. Charlie Adam responds almost immediately with a raking scud straight at Costel Pantilimon, then Marko Arnautovic leathers a free-kick into the Sunderland wall.
Post update
Having checked a few watches and clocks, we can revise the time of that Connor Wickham goal to 58 seconds. Prompt.
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
GOAL
Stoke 0-1 Sunderland - Wickham
How's that for a fast start? Asmir Begovic spills a Billy Jones' cross at his near post and Connor Wickham bundles the ball over the line at the second attempt.
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
KICK-OFF
And we're under way, Stoke kicking off at the Britannia...
Post update
We're currently having a minute of silence to mark the 30th anniversary of the Bradford fire.
Post update
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
What they would give for a season like Stoke's.
Their campaign might lack the raw emotion of a relegation battle or title fight but Mark Hughes side sit ninth and need just four more points to breach the half-century mark in the Premier League for the first time.
Furthermore, doing so might well secure successive top-half finishes in the top flight for the first time in 40 years.
Post update
Manager Dick Advocaat has been fidgeting with his abacus and come to the conclusion that Sunderland need at least six points from their final six games to preserve their Premier League status.
Given that this trip to the Potteries is followed by journeys to Everton, Arsenal and Chelsea and home meetings with Southampton and Leicester, even that looks a daunting task for a team who have scraped just nine points in this calendar year.
Still, things looked unremittingly bleak at this stage of last season, too, before Gus Poyet guided his side to four wins in their final five games to secure another top-flight season of angst and despair.
Post update
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Get Involved
We'll delay judgement on whether getting your own live commentary today is a good thing, but what it does mean is that Stoke and Sunderland fans have a greater chance of being heard.
Any observations, opinions, abuse or even streams of consciousness are welcome, just tweet #BBCSTOSUN
Dick Advocaat has opted not to involve winger Adam Johnson, who was charged on Thursday with three offences of sexual activity with a 15-year-old.
The 27-year-old has made three substitute appearances since the club suspension imposed following his arrest was lifted but, despite being available, he has not travelled to Stoke.
"I spoke with him yesterday and he did not train for three days so I thought it better to keep him at home," Advocaat said.
Team news
Stoke manager Mark Hughes makes just one change from the side that beat Southampton last time out, with Charlie Adam - who scored the winner after coming on a substitute - replacing Glenn Whelan.
Sunderland manager Dick Advocaat's most notable decision was to leave Adam Johnson out of his 18 after the winger was charged on Thursday with three offences of sexual activity with a 15-year-old.
The Dutch manager makes two alterations to the XI who started the 4-1 home defeat by Crystal Palace, with Sebastian Coates and Will Buckley replacing Santiago Vergini and the injured Steven Fletcher.
They have won just twice in their last 15 Premier League games, failed to score in 15 of their 32 league matches this term and mustered just 25 goals all season... welcome to the almost unrelenting misery of following Sunderland.
Just a point above the relegation zone and with one of their most prominent players this week being charged with three offences of sexual activity with a 15-year-old, the Black Cats do not have their troubles to seek.
So what better than a trip to face a Stoke City side emboldened by victory in their last outing?
Live Reporting
Richard Winton
All times stated are UK
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Latest PostFULL-TIME
Follow reaction and analysis to this match here.
FULL-TIME
That's it... Sunderland scrape their way to a hard-earned point but still slip into the bottom three thanks to Leicester's win at Burnley.
Post update
And it goes out of play before reaching the box. What a waste by Gomez. Safe to say Wee Dick is raging on the touchline.
Post update
Big header by Ryan Shawcross, beating Jordi Gomez to a Billy Jones free-kick. Now for the corner...
CLOSE!
Oooft! Lee Cattermole drags a shot wide for Sunderland. We might still get a winner here.
INJURY TIME
We're getting another four minutes of this...
SUBSTITUTION
Phil Bardsley replaces Geoff Cameron for Stoke.
GREAT SAVE!
Sunderland's Costel Pantilimon has to use all of his 6ft 8in frame to claw a Charlie Adam 25-yarder past an upright.
CLOSE!
Jermain Defoe slithers a tame shot wide from the edge of the area as Sunderland search for a winner. The danger is they get caught on the counter and end up with nothing...
CLOSE!
Another crucial block, this time Sunderland's Sebastian Coates slides in to deny Peter Crouch.
CLOSE!
Eric Pieters steals in to prod out for a corner as Sunderland's Connor Wickham shapes to shoot from a promising position.
SUBSTITUTION
Lovely reception for Stoke's Peter Odemwingie as he comes on for his first appearance since suffering a serious knee injury in August. Jon Walters is the man making for the showers.
YELLOW CARD
Now Billy Jones goes into Martin Atkinson's book, the full-back being punished for grapping with Marko Arnautovic.
Join the debate at #BBCSTOSUN
Thomas Hewitt: I still think Sunderland, Newcastle & Middlesborough could all be playing in the same league next year... The Championship!
Post update
Sunderland players are throwing themselves in front of shots with admirable abandon here but they are dropping deeper and deeper towards their own goal.
Criminal record
Can they make it two draws from seven?
SUBSTITUTION
That's the end of Mame Biram Diouf's afternoon, with Peter Crouch loping on for the last 18 minutes or so.
GREAT SAVE!
Costel Pantilimon makes a crucial intervention to block from Mame Biram Diouf, who chested down Charlie Adam's free-kick and shot from little more than four yards out.
Post update
Let's talk hypothetically for a moment... Leicester are ahead at Burnley, which means that, as it stands, Sunderland have slipped into the bottom three.
Post update
I've been watching Charlie Adam since he was on loan at Ross County from Rangers in 2004 and rarely have I seen him more influential than this. The Stoke midfielder has been less of a goal threat this half, instead focusing on spearing sensational long passes from deep.
GREAT SAVE!
Asmir Begovic might just have redeemed himself for his early error, sticking out a leg to divert Billy Jones' shot wide after the Sunderland defender made a bullocking run though the heart of the home defence.
YELLOW CARD
It's getting niggly, now. John O'Shea is booked for tugging back Asmir Begovic.
CLOSE!
And a near thing at the other end as Patrick van Aanholt inadvertently directs Marko Arnautovic's cross at his own goalkeeper from close range.
GREAT CHALLENGE!
That's a splendid intervention by Stoke's Ryan Shawcross to thwart the rampaging Connor Wickham inside the area after Philipp Wollscheid slipped.
YELLOW CARD
Mame Biram Diouf has been booked for an overzealous attempt to block a Costel Pantilimon clearance. Frankly, the goalkeeper deserved it for dwelling on a backpass.
Post update
Steve Bower
BBC Match of the Day commentator
Sunderland have spent eight successive years in the top flight but they are very much looking over their shoulders. No complaints whatever about their support, who have been tremendous today.
CLOSE!
You suspect The Little General has got right in about his Sunderland players at the interval as Dick Advocaat's side look much brighter at the beginning of this half. That said, Charlie Adam has just pinged another effort over the visitors' crossbar.
CLOSE!
Well, there's something. A Sunderland chance. Connor Wickham slides a pass in to Jermain Defoe, who rolls his man but shoots tamely at Asmir Begovic.
Post update
It's been a pretty drab start to the second period, characterised by poor passes and niggly fouls. I'll give you a nudge if something happens.
A right Charlie
Charlie Adam's stunning equaliser has the teams level at the Britannia. It's very much worth watching out for on Match of the Day this evening.
KICK-OFF
Here we go, the teams are out. Sunderland's John O'Shea is among them with some kind of gel smeared across his slashed face. It's not a great look, to be honest.
Sunderland have made one alteration, though, with Danny Graham on for Will Buckley, who I didn't even notice in the first half, to be honest.
Post update
With nobody currently winning in the Premier League, this result would be neither grievous nor great for Sunderland as it stands. But given the way the game has gone, a point might not be the worst return for Dick Advocaat's side.
Post update
John Hartson
Former Wales striker on Final Score
"Charlie Adam doesn't score simple goals - when he retires I want a collection of them. He has smashed this one in."
Post update
Jermaine Jenas
Former England midfielder on Final Score
"This is a good Stoke side playing well - they've had 72% possession and that doesn't surprise me. Mark Hughes has not received the praise he deserves. If you look at Stoke's players today, they're hungry, they want to finish as high up the table as possible."
Post update
O'Shea, incidentally, strolled off holding tissues to both his forehead and his month as blood seeped from separate wounds. He'll spend the interval being patched up.
HALF-TIME
Steve Bower
BBC Match of the Day commentator
It could have been worse for Dick Advocaat and Sunderland after Stoke equalised but at half time it is 1-1.
Ouch!
Ooft, that's nasty. Sunderland's John O'Shea has just taken one of Marko Arnautovic's boots in the face after stooping for a header. The Irishman is currently flat out having blood mopped from his mouth and teeth picked out of his nose.
Post update
What is about about football fans that makes them want to stand in their fleshy pomp without a shirt on? One hefty Sunderland supporter has just put me right off my half-time pie.
Post update
Two minutes of added time are signalled. Best get the kettle on...
NOT CLOSE!
Sunderland have won a free-kick in a good position. Connor Wickham sizes it up, looks confident, and skies the ball into the car park.
Post update
Stoke's Jon Walters is playing with one of those protective faces masks on. It's transparent, though, and seems smaller than usual so it looks a little like he's wearing swimming goggles.
Post update
Another Charlie Adam dig with his weaker foot, but this time the Stoke midfielder is stretching and slices the ball high over the bar.
Post update
Marko Arnautovic tickles a easing cross along the six-yard box and John O'Shea heads behind for a corner, which comes to little.
Post update
The amount of room Stoke are getting down Sunderland's right flank is frightening. Poor Billy Jones is hopelessly exposed and the hosts are funnelling every attack towards him.
CLOSE!
Costel Pantilimon is called into action yet again in the Sunderland goal, this time gathering a speculative Marko Arnautovic effort.
Post update
Incidentally, that Charlie Adam goal was with his "standing" foot, rather than his more refined left.
CLOSE!
Ryan Shawcross heads a corner over the Sunderland crossbar. As it stands, it's hard to see Sunderland hanging on here...
Join the debate at #BBCSTOSUN
Gary Lineker
BBC Sport
Spectacular goal from Charlie Adam. He's turning into Matt Le Tissier.
Post update
Had it not been for the rigging, that Charlie Adam shot would still be rising...
GOAL - Stoke 1-1 Sunderland - Adam
Told you Charlie Adam was rampant. Jon Walters and Marko Arnautovic combine to roll the ball into his path and the Scottish midfielder screams a shot into the top left-hand corner of Costel Pantilimon's net.
CLOSE!
That's a huge opportunity spurned by Sunderland. Jermain Defoe scampers on to Lee Cattermole's long ball after Philipp Wollscheid slips but the striker blasts his shot into the side netting.
Join the debate at #bbcfootball
Aidan Mifsud: The Premier League would be a happier place without Hull and Sunderland
Gary Hunter: Sunderland winning after 50 seconds, unsure how to react
Yani Kapitanov: Certainly hope Sunderland stay up. They are the most unpredictable team in England.
CLOSE!
Charlie Adam is rampant here. His delicious curling delivery cuts out Patrick van Aanholt but Jon Walters swipes are fresh air as he tries to connect at the back post.
CHAMPAGNE MOMENT
Sunderland lead thanks to Connor Wickham's 58-second goal. The striker, you may recall, is the man whose goals took Sunderland to safety at this stage of last term.
CLOSE!
He loves a dig, Charlie Adam, and the Scottish midfielder has just fizzed one over the Sunderland crossbar from 30 yards.
YELLOW CARD
Right, who had 18 minutes in Lee Cattermole Booking Bingo?
Post update
Costel Pantilimon has just taken three attempts to gather a Marko Arnautovic cross. Match of the Day commentator Steve Bower says that it's a bit windy pitchside, but even still...
CLOSE!
Ooft, that's close. Steven Ireland's volley glances off Sunderland defender Sebastian Coates and spins narrowly wide. Stoke are threatening here.
Post update
Jermaine Jenas
Former England midfielder on Final Score
"Sunderland have gone for a straight two up top and played Will Buckley in behind. It seems to have worked."
Post update
Lee Cattermole has just rapped his studs across Charlie Adam's thigh. Now that's a scrap I'd pay to see, but who'd win and why? Let us know at #BBCSTOSUN
CLOSE!
Remember when Stoke used to be all about second balls and positions of maximum opportunity? Well, not any more. The hosts have just constructed a lovely move involving Steven Ireland and Mame Biram Diouf that climaxed with Jon Walters lashing a shot into the midriff of Costel Pantilimon.
Post update
Stoke have scored in 11 of their last 12 games (it says here) and the odds on them doing so again this afternoon are small, you'd imagine. They've reacted well to conceding and have been camped in the Sunderland half...
Post update
Steve Bower
BBC Match of the Day commentator
Dick Advocaat has never been relegated as a manager...
Post update
That early goal has certainly roused Stoke. Charlie Adam responds almost immediately with a raking scud straight at Costel Pantilimon, then Marko Arnautovic leathers a free-kick into the Sunderland wall.
Post update
Having checked a few watches and clocks, we can revise the time of that Connor Wickham goal to 58 seconds. Prompt.
GOAL
Stoke 0-1 Sunderland - Wickham
How's that for a fast start? Asmir Begovic spills a Billy Jones' cross at his near post and Connor Wickham bundles the ball over the line at the second attempt.
KICK-OFF
And we're under way, Stoke kicking off at the Britannia...
Post update
We're currently having a minute of silence to mark the 30th anniversary of the Bradford fire.
Post update
What they would give for a season like Stoke's.
Their campaign might lack the raw emotion of a relegation battle or title fight but Mark Hughes side sit ninth and need just four more points to breach the half-century mark in the Premier League for the first time.
Furthermore, doing so might well secure successive top-half finishes in the top flight for the first time in 40 years.
Post update
Manager Dick Advocaat has been fidgeting with his abacus and come to the conclusion that Sunderland need at least six points from their final six games to preserve their Premier League status.
Given that this trip to the Potteries is followed by journeys to Everton, Arsenal and Chelsea and home meetings with Southampton and Leicester, even that looks a daunting task for a team who have scraped just nine points in this calendar year.
Still, things looked unremittingly bleak at this stage of last season, too, before Gus Poyet guided his side to four wins in their final five games to secure another top-flight season of angst and despair.
Post update
Get Involved
We'll delay judgement on whether getting your own live commentary today is a good thing, but what it does mean is that Stoke and Sunderland fans have a greater chance of being heard.
Any observations, opinions, abuse or even streams of consciousness are welcome, just tweet #BBCSTOSUN
Post update
Stoke forward Peter Odemwingie, who has not played since suffering a knee injury last August, makes his return among the substitutes.
Post update
Dick Advocaat has opted not to involve winger Adam Johnson, who was charged on Thursday with three offences of sexual activity with a 15-year-old.
The 27-year-old has made three substitute appearances since the club suspension imposed following his arrest was lifted but, despite being available, he has not travelled to Stoke.
"I spoke with him yesterday and he did not train for three days so I thought it better to keep him at home," Advocaat said.
Team news
Stoke manager Mark Hughes makes just one change from the side that beat Southampton last time out, with Charlie Adam - who scored the winner after coming on a substitute - replacing Glenn Whelan.
Sunderland manager Dick Advocaat's most notable decision was to leave Adam Johnson out of his 18 after the winger was charged on Thursday with three offences of sexual activity with a 15-year-old.
The Dutch manager makes two alterations to the XI who started the 4-1 home defeat by Crystal Palace, with Sebastian Coates and Will Buckley replacing Santiago Vergini and the injured Steven Fletcher.
Stoke City XI: Begovic; Cameron, Shawcross, Wollscheid, Pieters; Adam, Ireland, Nzonzi; Arnautovic; Biram Diouf; Walters
Sunderland XI: Pantilimon; Jones, O'Shea, Coates, Van Aanholt; Cattermole, Rodwell, Gomez; Buckley, Defoe, Wickham
Post update
They have won just twice in their last 15 Premier League games, failed to score in 15 of their 32 league matches this term and mustered just 25 goals all season... welcome to the almost unrelenting misery of following Sunderland.
Just a point above the relegation zone and with one of their most prominent players this week being charged with three offences of sexual activity with a 15-year-old, the Black Cats do not have their troubles to seek.
So what better than a trip to face a Stoke City side emboldened by victory in their last outing?