Mark Hughes a lot less positive than Jon Walters on his recovery from surgery

Mark Hughes admits he was surprised by Jon Walters' recent surgery.

This time last week, we were hoping for a fizz-banger between Ireland and Switzerland. We also had fingers crossed that Jon Walters would be back to face Slovakia. Then, Walters' injury status went from molehill to mountain. For a few hours, on Thursday, we all lost the run of ourselves. Walters was off for surgery on his knee and facing a battle to get back before the end of the season. The ever-ready forward calmed our fraying nerves with a succinct tweet. He would be back in plenty of time, he assured us, for the Euros. Asked for a fitness update on Walters, today, Stoke City boss Mark Hughes tread a cautious path:

"With regards to Jon, the operation is one that has taken us aback a little bit. He went for a scan and it has shown he has a tear in his knee cartilage. "He has had it before and he was back in three weeks. It might not be so quick this time, but it was something that needed to be done. "He will be back strong, and maybe he will be back before the end of the season. We hope he has no setbacks, and we don't envisage there being any."

One can read between every word and line here. We, however, have a weekend to look forward to so are taking every single positive word we can find.