Stoke City boss Gudjon Thordarson has warned Lewes could face a backlash from their 6-1 midweek humbling by Wigan Athletic.

The defeat ended a ten-match winning run which had lifted Stoke to third in the Second Division.

Thordarson, the former Icelandic national team manager, said: "We have found out this week how football can treat you if you are not fully focused and no-one wants to experience anything like that again because it badly hurts your pride. We know from last year (against Nuneaton) what can happen in the FA Cup and there is no way anyone would want to go through it again." Thordarson held a meeting with his players after the Wigan game. He said: "It wasn't a case of looking for scapegoats. It was a case of discussing exactly what went wrong and how we can stop it happening again."

Stoke's squad is a cosmopolitan mix including three Icelandic internationals, a Dutchman who played against England in Euro 96, a Swedish international, the Belarus national captain and a Belgium midfielder on a year's loan.

Fortunately for Lewes, three of the foreign legion, Mikael Hansson, Stefan Thordarson and Rikki Dadason, are ruled out by injury along with promising youngster Karl Henry, who probably would have played.

The squad, though, includes current Icelandic international Brynjar Gunnarsson, who missed the defeat at Wigan as his wife was giving birth, plus his compatriot and national under-21 captain Bjarni Gudjonsson, who is the manager's son. There is also Dutch winger Peter Hoekstra, whose last cap was against England in Euro 96.

Top scorer is Chris Iwelumo, a Scottish striker with an African father, who has netted six goals in his last eight games.