Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has confirmed that Jack Butland faces up to 10 weeks out following ankle surgery.
England international Butland had an operation on Monday, and Hughes said reports indicated it had gone "really well."
He has yet to play this season after suffering the injury in training, and Hughes told a news conference: "It was a little bit of scar tissue that was restricting the movement of the tendon in the ankle. That has all been cleared out.
"The likelihood is that it will be somewhere between six to 10 weeks when he comes back, and we are very hopeful the issue he has had is resolved now."
With 23-year-old Butland remaining on the sidelines, Shay Given, 40, is set to keep his place in goal for an extended run.
It is expected that, for Saturday's Premier League home clash with Tottenham, Lee Grant will come into the squad as back-up for Given.
Grant will replace Jakob Haugaard, who has been nursing an ankle problem of his own.