Stoke City defender Robert Huth has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury.
Huth has been out of action since November after having a knee operation, and manager Mark Hughes has revealed that the German has been forced to undergo surgery for a second time.
The 50-year-old is quoted by the Stoke Sentinel as saying: "Unfortunately, Robert had an operation last night and obviously he's going to miss the end of the season.
"We've tried to get him back and he's been close on a number of occasions, but the knee has been reacting adversely. Every time we tried to push him to the next level, there was a reaction.
"We took him to the surgeon and he recommended that Robert had another operation just to get a real understanding of what is going on in the knee."
Huth has made 184 appearances for the Potters since joining the club in 2009.