Stoke City will be without captain Ryan Shawcross for up to a month with a back injury, Mark Hughes has confirmed.
Shawcross, 28, missed the first three months of the season with a back problem but Mark Hughes has confirmed this injury isn’t related to his previous knock.
“Thankfully it’s not a recurrence of his back injury that required surgery,” Stoke manager Hughes is quoted as saying by the Daily Mail. “He’s got a soft muscle damage. It’s looking like to be three to four weeks. When Ryan came back in we were on a good run.
“Losing Ryan was detrimental to us. On the day, given the circumstances, losing your skipper and a stalwart at the back is going to disrupt you. It wasn’t ideal.”
The Potters have won nearly half of their matches with Shawcross in the starting XI (46.2%), but their win percentage drops to 30% when he has been missing this season.
For more stats on Ryan Shawcross, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
