'Terrible' - Stoke City boss Mark Robins confirms 'devastated' player will miss Sunderland clash

Stoke City manager Mark Robins has confirmed that attacker Sam Gallagher will not be available for this weekend’s FA Cup third round clash with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

The 29-year-old signed for the Potters from Blackburn Rovers over the summer, but has endured a frustrating start to life at the bet365 Stadium, and has been limited to just 332 minutes of action due to a calf injury.

His most recent outing came in last weekend’s 0-0 stalemate against Plymouth Argyle, and marked just his third start in red and white. Gallagher would last just 49 minutes before being withdrawn, however, and his boss has now confirmed that he is set for yet another spell on the sidelines.

Speaking in a press conference, Robins said: “Sam will be out for a few weeks. He picked up a hamstring problem in the second half. It’s terrible [for Gallagher] because I think Sam can be anything he wants but it’s a circumstance and situation when he’s picked up an injury and I have to look at that and work out how I can use him in the future without exposing him in an explosive game to too much explosive activity.

“I’ve got to look at how we can use him in games differently, slightly differently, and I think we can work together to maximise his time on the pitch because it’s been really stop-start. He is devastated, there’s no doubt about it. He’s a really powerful athlete and sometimes you look at him and think he’s too powerful for those explosive movements, it’s damaging the muscle because he’s so powerful.

“I’ve got to look at it, I really have got to look at it and I am. I’ve got some thoughts on it and I just want people who understand and know about those movements. In my head as a football manager I’m looking and thinking how I can use him in a different way? That, for me, is clear I can use him in a different way – but I want to know what the mechanics are and all of those things.

“You can’t just say it’s bad luck, we have to look at the science of it and see if we can get some information which will help because ultimately we’ve got to help Sam, he’s our player. I really like him. I think he’s got so many really good attributes but the one thing we’ve not been able to do at the moment is keep him on the pitch. I will look at it and make sure and endeavour we do everything we can to try to make that happen.”

Robins also provided an update on injured duo Ben Pearson and Bosun Lawal, although neither are expected to feature against Sunderland on Saturday afternoon. The Stoke boss added: “Ben’s been on the grass [on Thursday] and the other day and Bosun is training with us, he’s just not played enough minutes. Ben is very similar, he’s been out for the best part of the year.

“We’ll have to wait and see if he can play for the under-21s [next week against Man City. If the game is on the Friday, I haven’t got a big squad so if I’ve got 20 players, they’re going to have to try to get fit by being within that. It isn’t ideal, it really isn’t ideal, but we’ve got what we’ve got and I’ll try to make the best of it that we can.”