Jack Butland to undergo further surgery on injured ankle

Stoke City and England goalkeeper Jack Butland has revealed that he is to undergo further surgery on his troublesome ankle.

The 23-year-old, who has not featured in a competitive match since picking up the injury in March, now faces a further two months out of action.

Butland fractured his ankle in England's 3-2 friendly win over Germany towards the end of last season, ruling him out of the Three Lions' Euro 2016 finals and making him a doubt for the start of the Potters' league campaign.

Despite making a return to fitness in time for pre-season, the former Birmingham City keeper suffered a fresh setback on the eve of the campaign and has been forced to watch on from the sidelines in recent weeks.

Butland has now confirmed that he will undergo surgery once again early next week, which is expected to see him miss up to eight weeks of action.

"A little update on the injury. I'll be having a minor operation on Monday to resolve my current ankle issue," he said on Twitter.

"Rather than push through and risk damaging further, I'd like to have it sorted for good and be back to the levels I was at last year. I'm as positive as always and will do everything to be back as soon as possible. Thank you for your support!"

Butland is now a doubt for England's World Cup 2018 qualifiers with Malta and Slovenia in October, having already missed out on this weekend's meeting against Slovakia.