Glenn Whelan ready to skipper Stoke despite broken nose, says Mark Hughes

Stoke City’s Irish midfielder Glenn Whelan will play against Newcastle tonight despite breaking his nose in the weekend win over Aston Villa - but manager Mark Hughes does not know if the Dubliner will wear a protective mask.

The Republic of Ireland international continued to skipper the Potters in Ryan Shawcross’ absence and played on despite suffering the injury last Saturday.

Hughes says the incident won’t put him at any risk of missing tonight’s evening’s fixture against Newcastle United.