Fuller`s Buggered

City`s number 10 Ricardo Fuller will most likely miss the FA Cup final at Wembley after suffering an injury during the 1-1 draw with Aston Villa on Saturday.

The Jamaican has ruptured his Achilles, so will definitely miss tomorrow`s Premier League match against Staffordshire rivals Wolves, and it looks like he`ll miss the rest of the season.

Gaffer Tony Pulis kept his cards close to his chest when asked about the extent of the injury. But one thing is for sure, he doesn`t seem optimistic that Ric would be back on the pitch our first FA Cup final in their history. Not good.

Pulis said: 'We're hoping it's not as bad as people think, but it doesn't look good.

'I don't really want to comment much until we know the results of the scan.

'We're just hoping and praying it isn't anything serious for Ricardo. I thought he may have been kicked at the time, but Ric says it just popped as he landed.'

This is a massive blow to Stoke, both on the pitch, and - according to Ryan Shawcross - in the dressing room too. The defensive captain revealed it was a Fuller speech that inspired his team`s 5-0 thrashing of Bolton in the semi-finals, booking them a place in the Final.

Something didn`t feel right when Fuller went down, and how quickly medics got him on a stretcher. Big blow in the creativity and flair department for us as his performances coming off the bench in recent games has been the vital injection of fresh legs, and fresh ideas during the game. So that`s two suffering from similar injuries; Danny Higginbotham and Ricardo Fuller. Touch wood (my head) there won`t be anymore!!!

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