Stoke relieved that Jones injury is lighter than feared

Stoke relieved that Jones injury is lighter than feared

LONDON (Reuters) – Stoke City’s manager breathed a sigh of relief on Tuesday when scans showed that record, 8-million-pound ($12.5-million) signing Kenwyne Jones had suffered only a minor injury in an incident which forced him off the pitch in his debut game on Saturday.

“The news is as good as we could have expected in the circumstances,” manager Tony Pulis told the club’s website (www.stokecity.com).

“We were obviously very concerned about the extent of the damage. But the tests have shown only minor ligament damage. We will assess Kenwyne’s progress over the next few days so it is hard to say how long he will be out. We are talking days, though, not weeks or months.”

Jones, 26, who joined from Sunderland last week, injured his ankle after 10 minutes of his debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday in a challenge with Jody Craddock and at first the club feared he might be out for months.

However, scans showed he suffered only minor ligament damage to his right ankle.

(Reporting by Mike Collett; Editing by Clare Fallon)