Robins confirms major injury for Stoke City star

Ato Ampah is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a serious knee injury, Stoke City boss Mark Robins has confirmed.

Ampah picked up the problem during the international break just as he was closing in on a return to full fitness.

“It’s really disappointing,” Robins said.

“It was an impact injury during the break and he was looking like he was ready to go in terms of his fitness and his availability and all of those things but he had an impact injury that meant he’s had to have surgery and it was quite serious surgery.”

Robins said the operation had gone well but admitted Ampah is set for a long recovery period.

“He’s going to be out for a fair amount of time and everybody is really disappointed for him,” he said.

“Surgery has gone well, so I’m told, but it will take a long time for that to heal to ensure that the surfaces of his joints are not compromised for the rest of his life.”

The Stoke boss added that the injury was especially cruel given Ampah had not yet been able to build any real momentum.

“You don’t know what he could have been and what he could have given us and we’re just going to have to wait,” Robins said.

“For him it’s really, really difficult. He’s not been able to get going at all but this one was a challenge under a challenge that has really affected his knee.

“He’s had that surgery done, he’s had some corrective stuff done and that’s the bit that will take time because you’ve got to give it a chance to heal properly.”