Hughes reveals Stoke concern over Butland injury
Date published: Saturday 3rd December 2016 8:08
Mark Hughes has revealed Stoke are concerned that Jack Butland has suffered another setback in his recovery from injury.
The 23-year-old has not played since March, when he fractured his ankle on Three Lions duty in Germany, with the problem flaring up again over the summer and requiring more surgery, and he pulled out of an Under-23s fixtures on Friday night.
Butland had been due to return to action in that game at Reading, only to feel pain in the warm-up, so the Potters sent him for an MRI scan on Saturday in a bid to determine if the latest problem was minor or major.
Speaking after the 2-0 Premier League victory over Burnley on Saturday evening, Hughes had not been informed of any immediate update regarding Butland as he sweated on news from his scan.
“It’s a little bit of a concern, I have to say,” the Welshman said.
“He got to the warm-up (on Friday) and felt discomfort in the ankle, the same situation that we found ourselves before the beginning of the season, unfortunately. Not to the same extent, but in the same area, so we need to get to the bottom of it.
“I haven’t had an update in terms of where we think he is with it but he’s gone for scans today. Hopefully we can settle it down again and continue to try and get him ready for games again.
“If that’s not the case then we’ll have to try and do something more radical, maybe, but we’ll try and avoid that if we can.”
EmoticonEmoticon