Stoke City fans must have been fearing the worst after news on Saturday that their top scorer, Jamaican international Ricardo Fuller, had dislocated his shoulder and would miss most of the rest of the season.

Fuller was injured after falling awkwardly in the Potters' defeat to Sunderland on Wearside at the weekend, and was expected to be out for three months, a big loss to a side determined to avoid the relegation so many had predicted for them prior to the season beginning.

The player underwent an x-ray in Sunderland on Saturday, Stoke's official website reports, before having further scans on the damaged shoulder yesterday. These examinations revealed no further damage or fractures.

The player will therefore miss a predicted four to six weeks of action, beginning with Jamaica's friendly with Nigeria tomorrow, and will require at least a month of non-contact training before he will be ready for the rigours of Premier League action again.

Fuller's Stoke team-mates Andy Wilkinson and Ryan Shawcross, both of whom were also substituted due to injury in the weekned's game at Sunderland, also provided a boost for City on the injury front,  as it was confirmed that they both should be fit for the Potters' next game, at home to Portsmouth on February 21.