Stoke City hot prospect hit by major injury blow
Sol Sidibe is braced for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after becoming the latest injury victim at Stoke City.
The 17-year-old England youth captain is understood to have been diagnosed with a pars fracture in his lower back, which he is believed to have been unwittingly playing with in a Boxing Day clash with Leeds United and FA Cup win at Sunderland, as well as last Tuesday's FA Youth Cup match against West Bromwich Albion.
There are no doubts about his long-term recovery and it won't affect the long career ahead of him, nor require surgery, but it will mean he has to take a complete step back to rest and recuperate.
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It is a frustratingly common kind of injury for young footballers. Tom Cannon missed the first half of last season when a stress fracture in his back was picked up in a medical as he signed for Leicester from Everton while a medical flagged up the issue for Bosun Lawal when he joined Stoke from Celtic last summer.
Lawal - who is believed to have played the whole of last season on loan at Fleetwood with the problem, just managing pain before it was diagnosed - is in full training now and played 45 minutes for the under-21s in a 2-2 draw with Manchester City on Friday night - when Sidibe was in the crowd - before sitting on the first team bench at West Bromwich Albion on the Saturday.
Sidibe is one of the brightest prospects coming through the Stoke academy and he has made 13 appearances so far this season.
Manager Mark Robins is already missing Million Manhoef (knee), Eric Bocat (calf), Sam Gallagher (hamstring), Ben Pearson (hamstring), Jordan Thompson (groin) and Lynden Gooch and Ben Gibson, who have both picked up injuries in the last week or so.
Pearson and Lawal are hoping to take a step towards their returns by playing for the under-21s against Rochdale in the National League Cup on Tuesday.
