Stoke City injury blow as midfielder ruled out for four months

Ben Pearson is expected to miss about four months after close season surgery to solve a niggling hamstring injury.

The 29-year-old Stoke City midfielder had hoped to avoid surgery to recover from a problem which ruled him out for the final few weeks of last term but has ultimately needed to go ahead with a procedure that involves a long recovery process. The likely time frame suggests he will be ruled out for the opening 10 games or so of the season, on top of the challenges that come with missing pre-season.

Pearson joined Stoke initially on loan from Bournemouth in January 2023, reuniting with Alex Neil, his old boss at Preston. He signed permanently last summer for a fee believed to be under £500,000 on a four-year contract. It was a stop-start season, making just 22 league starts, and it ended in mid-March when he limped out of a home defeat to Norwich.

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