Stoke sweat over Jack Butland’s fitness after star keeper suffered an injury in training
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STOKE are sweating on keeper Jack Butland’s fitness after he suffered a new ankle injury in training yesterday.
The England man, 23, has been battling back for the new season after breaking his ankle for England against Germany in March.
But he picked up an injury to the same ankle on the eve of the new season, meaning he could now miss today’s curtain- raiser at newly-promoted Middlesbrough.
And if the injury is more serious it could mean he is out of contention for Sam Allardyce’s first England game next month, although Stoke are hoping the problem is just a short-term one.
Butland will undergo scans this weekend as Potters officials try to find out the extent of the injury.
But they do not believe it is another fracture — despite him leaving training on crutches — and instead think he has just jarred the ankle.
Veteran Shay Given, 40, is set to stand in at the Riverside.
Butland’s England injury forced him to miss the Euros in France, where he was expected to challenge Joe Hart for his place. Now he faces more
heartache after working hard to get fit again for the new season.
Social media rebel Marc Wilson has been told he can leave the club by manager Mark Hughes.
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The Republic of Ireland international, 28, has been disciplined after slamming Hughes’ training sessions on Twitter last week.
Wilson claimed in an online chat with fans that Stoke never do any proper defensive training — something that his manager has dismissed.
Hughes insisted his plans to offload the defender, who has two years to run on his contract at the Bet365 Stadium, have nothing to do with the Twitter outburst.
But he believes Wilson, who has only just recovered from a knee injury suffered in January, has become frustrated at his lack of first-team chances.
Hughes said: “It’s fair to say sometimes players can be frustrated with a perceived lack of opportunity and I think that’s the case with Marc.
“He maybe expressed himself in the wrong way. It’s fair to say Marc feels his future lies elsewhere and I probably agree with him.
“So the likelihood is if there’s a deal to be done, then Marc will probably take that opportunity and carry on elsewhere.
“That’s not a consequence of anything he’s said on social media. That’s just his current situation.”
Wilson did not join Stoke on their pre-season trips to Florida and Germany and was left at home to play for the reserves.
He got into hot water as he chatted on Twitter with fans eight days ago while preparing to play for the second string in a friendly at Rhyl.
And the defender, who moved to the Potteries from Portsmouth in August 2010, will definitely miss the Premier League opener at Middlesbrough today.
Wilson almost left the club last season but Hughes was unwilling to let him go because he needed cover.
Sparky added: “Last year, he was probably frustrated.
“He felt he had opportunities to go out either on loan or permanently. But I wasn’t able to sanction that at that time because we had injury problems and he was a valued member of the squad.
“We’ll look at all options. It could be the options presented don’t fit with our value of Marc as a player.
“We’d have to look at it and ask if it’s right for us and Marc. We’ll see.”