Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has confirmed Peter Osaze Odemwingie is facing a long spell on the sidelines with a knee injury.
The Nigeria international, 33, was stretchered off in the 65th minute of his club’s first ever top-flight win over champions Manchester City last Saturday.
“It’s a significant injury and unfortunately it’s a long-term one,” the Welsh boss said. “It will be a long road back but we wish him well.”
No timescale has yet been put on his recovery but the ‘Potters’ have, as a result, not included Odemwingie in their 25-man Premier League squad, meaning the Super Eagles marksman will have to wait until the winter transfer window, when the next changes can only be made.
Should his recovery come quicker than expected, Odemwingie could, however, feature for the club’s youth team pending the next registration into the senior squad.
Hughes also disclosed Odemwingie will undergo surgery, which he says will only take place once the swelling around the knee has subsided and could take up to “a couple of weeks”.
He added: “He’s going to have some kind of procedure but the medical staff are waiting for the knee to settle down, that’s the idea.
“By all accounts, allowing the swelling to go down before have the operation allows the knee to recover in a better manner that doing it while there’s still swelling around the problem area.
“He’s going to have to wait a couple of weeks before it’s actually done but once the operation is done we know he will work extremely hard to get back.
Odemwingie joined Stoke from Cardiff City in January and has scored five goals in his 18 appearances for the club.
Hughes moved in time to avoid an impending catastrophe by re-signing Oussama Assaidi back from Liverpool on a season-long loan on transfer deadline day.
