Former Nigerian Skipper, John Mikel Obi may likely not feature in Stoke City’s home clash agsinst Middlesbrough on Saturday in the Sky Bet Championship according to his coach, Michael O’Neil
After limping off in Stoke’s 0-0 draw against Sheffield Wednesday last weekend, the former Chelsea man was absent in his side’s midweek 1-0 victory over Wycombe as a result of the injury.
“John Obi’s still an extreme doubt, Steven Fletcher, Jordan Thompson… it’s unlikely that we’ll have any of those players back for the game tomorrow,”O’Neil stated during his interaction with the media on Friday.
“We’ll monitor them later today and see where they’re at but I think we have to be mindful of the schedule as well and not rush people back too soon.
“The risk is you lose them to longer and we want to avoid that situation going forward.
“We are a wee bit stretched in terms of players that are out.”
Mikel, who joined Stoke City on free transfer this summer has featured in 14 league games for the club.
