Stoke City Football Club News

• Nickname:Potters
• Founded:1863
• Manager:Tony Pulis

• Ground:Britannia Stadium
• Capacity:28,218

Higginbotham boost for Potters

06 Jul 2009 - 15:35:17

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Stoke City defender Danny Higginbotham's recovery from a back operation has gone so well that he should be able to take a full part in pre-season training.

There had been fears that the 30-year-old former Manchester United full-back would miss the start of pre-season, but he insists he will report back with the rest of the Potters squad for the first day of training on Thursday.

Higginbotham, who was forced to miss the final five games of last season with the problem, told the Sentinel: "Everything's fine now apart from a little bit of stiffness, but that's just 'pre-season pain' from all the running I've been doing.

"It's a relief to be sorted. When I had the operation, they told me I could be out for three months, so I'm the right side of that.

"If you miss pre-season then you're always playing catch-up and sometimes you don't make that up until towards the end of the season."