Mark Wilson sidelined until April with knee injury

Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has confirmed Marc Wilson will be out until April due to the knee injury sustained on Saturday, making the 28-year-old defender at least a doubt for the European Championships.

“It’s not cruciate ligament injury thankfully,” Hughes said yesterday, “but it’s the medial, so it’ll be 10-12 weeks. It’ll near-on rule him out for the season but hopefully he’ll get back. It’s one you have to manage correctly which we always do and it should be straightforward in terms of recovery. Luckily it’s not a cruciate which we feared when it happened.”

Hughes confirmed Shay Given is making progress. “He’s had an issue with his knee but we’re hopeful once he starts goalkeeping work which he hasn’t been able to do lately, then he’ll be able get up to speed quickly.”