Stoke City boss Mark Hughes has confirmed that Glenn Whelan will miss this weekend's clash with Tottenham.
The 30-year old midfielder has been out of action since suffering a broken leg on international duty for the Republic of Ireland on October 13 but was called up by Martin O'Neill this week for the upcoming Euro2016 qualifier with Scotland.
Ahead of Sunday's trip to White Hart Lane, Hughes admitted that the Spurs clash has come about too soon for Whelan who has remained in the Ireland squad despite not making Stoke's roster.
"No, I don't think so, but as a club we don't think he is ready," said Hughes when asked if Whelan had been withdrawn from the national setup.
"He is training with the physios and making good progress, but he has not joined in any training sessions with us and there is not a plan to do that.
"Probably Ireland are within their rights to call him up to be assessed, but our view is that he is not ready - if we had a game this time next week, he wouldn't be playing for us because it would be too much of a risk.
"I'm sure Glenn will meet up with Ireland and then their FA will have to make the correct decision."
