Mark Hughes claims Jack Butland could recover from his broken finger inside three weeks.
Butland suffered his latest unlucky break with England in training last week and Hughes is optimistic the Stoke No 1 can return when the pain subsides.
“He’s a little bit disappointed, obviously,” said they Stoke boss. “We are hopeful it’s going to resolve itself as quickly as possible.
“I have seen the X-ray. It’s a mis-placed bone in there. We are reasonably confident that once it settles down and Jack can manage the pain, he can get back training and playing.
“It could be three weeks. It could be four or five. It’s about the level of pain he’s in.”
Butland was out for 13 months with a broken ankle sustained playing for England against Germany in March 2016 and Hughes claims he is strong enough mentally to bounce back.
“Knowing Jack as I do, he’s a very strong character,” said Hughes. “He’s very focused in terms of what he needs to do to be the best he can be.
“Clearly the injury is not as significant as the previous one he suffered with England, which kept him out for 12-13 months.
“This is going to be weeks rather than months and he has that strength of personality.”
Hughes also confirmed Geoff Cameron remains out with the concussion he suffered during training more than a fortnight ago.
“Geoff is still unavailable,” he said. “It’s taking a little bit longer than we anticipated. When we step up the physical work, he gets a reaction and we have to start from square one again.
“We have to be very careful with head injuries and we are trying to do the correct things for Geoff to make sure he’s OK.”