Stoke City assistant boss Mark Bowen has played down fears over Ryan Shawcross's back injury, describing it as a "tweak".
The 28-year-old defender, who was hampered for large parts of last season with a back problem, missed Saturday's pre-season friendly defeat to Burton Albion.
It was confirmed that the centre-back fell awkwardly in training, but there are no concerns that it will keep him out for a lengthy spell.
"When he first went down we were thinking 'what the hell is this now?' but it's just a little tweak in his back and he should be fit to train," Bowen told BBC Radio Stoke.
Shawcross was absent in the first two months of last season after having an operation, and later on in the campaign was ruled out for nine games with another back injury.
Written by
Danielle Joynson
Danielle Joynson
