Stoke City's Ryan Shawcross Suffers Gruesome Ankle Injury in Preseason Friendly

Shawcross was taken off the field in a stretcher on Saturday.

Stoke City captain Ryan Shawcross suffered an apparent ankle injury in Saturday's pre-season friendly against Leicester. The team is still waiting to find out the severity of the injury, which occurred as Shawcross was making a sliding clear in the first half of the match.

Shawcross, 31, was attended to on the field for several minutes before being carried off on a stretcher. Potters manager Nathan Jones told BBC Radio that there was nothing official yet on Shawcross's status but added, "We think it's something reasonably serious. How serious, we don't know."

*Warning. Graphic scene in video*

Jones said the team hopes Shawcross will be able to return sooner rather than later.

Shawcross has been with Stoke since the summer of 2007 and has made 414 appearances for the club.