The injury that Steve Sidwell sustained versus the Reds yesterday has put him out of contention for the remaining matches of this year.
Although, the injury is not that serious, still, it would take Sidwell almost a month to recover.
Seeing Sidwell’s anguish, people initially thought it was a major blow, but, the veteran playmaker made his way out of the ground without the help of a stretcher.
Mark Hughes also told the media persons later on that Sidwell is not in as poor a condition as he looked to be in first up.
Hughes did admit that there was tearing in the ligament, but, according to the Stoke boss, it’s only slight tearing and thus, Sidwell would be fit around mid-January.
Speaking to the reporters, Hughes said, “I have just been told that the scan reports are a bit more encouraging than our expectations. We were expecting his recovery period to stretch to two months, but, now, it seems we will not have to wait for that long to get him in again. It’s probably a month or so and he will be back I reckon.”
When asked what kind of injury Sidwell suffered, the Welshman said, “Well, he has torn his ligament, but, it’s not as serious as the ligament injuries can be. It’s an injury nevertheless and he would be sitting out for a bit of time, but, as I told you, it’s not going to be as long as it seemed first.”
Glenn Whelan, the man who was put in there on the pitch by Hughes as Sidwell’s replacement versus Liverpool, also got injured. He did not come back after the half-time break, but, Hughes is confident that the 30-year old Irishman would be available for the next Saturday’s league game.