Wilmot injury adds to Stoke's list of absentees
Stoke City boss Mark Robins is concerned that defender Ben Wilmot may be in line for a lengthy injury absence following a challenge late on in Wednesday's 3-1 defeat at Portsmouth.
After briefly giving the Potters hope, as they trailed 2-0 down inside nine minutes, with a first-half goal, Wilmot's night ended badly at Fratton Park when he was on the wrong end of a full-blooded two-foot challenge in injury time from home midfielder Terry Devlin.
"He was in a lot of pain," Robins told BBC Radio Stoke.
Robins revealed that Wilmot, who has started 23 of Stoke's 28 Championship games this season, went for an x-ray at a local Portsmouth hospital.
The club are yet to divulge the severity of the injury, but Stoke have now played 14 games in 61 days since the last international break in November - and Robins admits there is no escaping the Championship's relentless, punishing schedule.
Having admitted his Potters side were "bullied" by Pompey, who rolled out "all the dark arts", he admitted: "If you're playing in a lot of games like that, and as often as we are doing, you're going to pick up injuries. There's no getting away from it.
"You've got to fight for the right to play football in this league. And one or two look really tired, out on their feet - but you've got to be able to deal with it."
"This is part and parcel of playing in the Championship, long away trips like this.
"It's four hours down here - but the supporters will have had even longer on their bus."
Robins, who suffered his first defeat as Stoke boss in his fourth game in charge, was already without midfielder Ben Pearson, who "might be ready for a game with the Under-21s next week", and centre-back Ben Gibson, who is "hopefully not too far away".
He also has midfielders Lynden Gooch and teenager Sol Sidibe (back) sidelined, while front man Million Manhoef is "making steady progress" after eight games out.
Having lost for the first time in six games to be overtaken by Pompey, dropping to 19th in the table, Stoke now face successive games against two more of the teams in and around them.
They face former Potters boss Gary Rowett's 14th-placed Oxford United on Saturday before a trip the following weekend to 22nd-placed Hull City, ahead of the FA Cup fourth-round home date with Cardiff City on Saturday 8 February.
Stoke have so far made just one signing in the January window, left-back Josh Wilson-Esbrand, while recalling midfielder Lewis Baker from Blackburn and striker Nathan Lowe from Walsall.
Mark Robins was talking to BBC Radio Stoke's Mark Elliott