'John Is An Extreme Doubt' - Stoke City Boss Admits Mikel Could Be Absent Against His Former Club

Stoke City manager Michael O'Neill has admitted that Chelsea hero John Obi Mikel is rated as doubtful for today's Championship meeting with Middlesbrough.

For the first time since his return to England, the former Super Eagles captain was not included in a matchday squad for a league game as the Potters registered a 1-0 win at Wycombe Wanderers.

Mikel, who is recovering from a calf complaint, would have been suited to playing against Boro, having spent the second half of the 2018-2019 season at the Riverside Stadium.

"John is still an extreme doubt, along with Steven and Jordan, so it’s unlikely we will have any of those players back for tomorrow," O'Neill said at Friday's pre-match press conference.

"We’ll monitor them later today just to see where they are at but I think we have to be mindful of the schedule as well and not rush people back too soon because the risk is you leave them for longer.

"We want to avoid that situation going forward but we are a wee bit stretched in terms of the players that are out."

Mikel started fourteen consecutive matches in the second-tier, totaling 1,246 minutes, prior to his spell on the sidelines.

Igho Kingsley