Hull City midfielder Greg Docherty ready to return at full throttle against Stoke City

The midfielder has been out of action since the opening game of the season after tearing a quad muscle but is part of the squad for Tuesday's match and will not be held back according to his manager.

Asked if Docherty would be in the squad, coach Arveladze replied: "Yes. He trained the last two days with us and I haven't heard about any bad reactions."

As to how involved he could be in the game, the Georgian was bullish.

"I don't think we have to be cautious with him," he said. "He's passed all the tests so I don't think there's any risk to have him on the field.

"He's not someone who is always thinking abut injury. There was a time when we had to stop him doing more because he didn't feel much (discomfort) but although he was clinically quite good, if you checked the MRI or looked into his injury past they would always say he needed more time to be more safe."

Like all British football teams, Hull did not play at the weekend because of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, but with the decision only made late on Friday morning, they travelled to prospective opponents Cardiff City anyway, and had a training session in Wales.

The trip would have been helpful for a group of players still getting to know one another after 16 signings in the summer transfer window.

"It was great, we went to Cardiff!" he said. "It's a nice place, a nice city.

"I hadn't been there since 95 so it's been almost 30 years.

"I had good memories of its last time and this was not a bad memory either. We saw a good complex, trained there and came back.

"What happened, happened. It's very sad of course. We all just understand the situation and act as we have to.

"We came back home after having a session and a rest on Sunday like normal, then it's back again to the job on Monday.

"We will see if the free weekend was a good thing."