Stoke City's Stephen Ireland is set to be sidelined for around two weeks with a hamstring injury.
The midfielder was forced off late in Sunday's 1-1 draw with Newcastle United after picking up the problem and will now miss a couple of weeks of action which is another blow to Potters boss Mark Hughes who was already dealing with the season-ending knee injury sustained by Bojan Krkic.
"It's a blow for him as well as the team. He'd come in and made an impact, which tempered the loss of Bojan because there was a bit of doom and gloom obviously," Hughes said ahead of Wednesday night's home clash with Manchester City.
"Unfortunately injuries have been the story of his season because he was our best performer in preseason and he looked like he was going to start very strong.
"He was playing well, but unfortunately went out through injury, and then he came back in, did OK, but was then out again.
"It's a shame for him because he has that vision and creativity you need at Premier League level. You need game-changers and players who will make a difference and Stephen is one of those."
