Stoke City boss Mark Hughes has revealed that Xherdan Shaqiri will miss this weekend's Premier League clash against Leicester City, despite featuring for Switzerland during the international break.
Shaqiri has not represented Stoke since picking up a calf injury in January, but he did represent Switzerland during the two-week international break.
It had been thought that the former Bayern Munich attacker would make his Potters return on Saturday afternoon, but Hughes has said that the winger aggravated an existing calf problem while in action for the Swiss national team.
"He wanted to be part of the squad against Chelsea but I thought it would only be from the bench and it could be risky. We thought the international game a week down the line would help his progress," Hughes told reporters.
"We've got to get to the bottom of these calf problems. It's a little bit of a concern to be perfectly honest. At the moment when he steps things up he gets set-backs. I don't think he'll need an operation. He gets a bit of discomfort. He's got to have the means to be able to overcome that.
"When you go away with international squads, it can be short-term thinking rather than long-term. Maybe that's compromised him a little. Doing different things, with a different group. We don't anticipate it will be too long. He won't be available for Burnley but maybe Liverpool."
Shaqiri, 25, has scored three times in 14 Premier League appearances for Stoke this season.
No Data Analysis info
Germany
Switzerland
Hungary
Scotland
Spain
Italy
Croatia
Albania
England
Denmark
Slovenia
Serbia
Austria
France
Netherlands
Poland
Romania
Belgium
Slovakia
Ukraine
Portugal
Turkey
Georgia
Czech Republic