Stoke City assistant manager Dean Holden has hinted to the club's official website that the Potters could dip into the transfer market in order to replace the absent Harry Souttar. 

The impressive young centre back recently sustained a knee ligament injury that could well see him sidelined for the rest of the season as he prepares to visit a specialist in London today.

This comes as a massive blow to the Potters, with Souttar having played a big role for the club in their early season run to fifth place in the league standings.

Now Holden has dropped a hint that the club could well move into the January transfer market in search of a stand in replacement for Souttar whilst the centre back is sidelined:

"Moving forward we will obviously have to make decisions going into January in terms of recruitment and how we go about that.

"However, for the short term, we obviously have the players that we have in the squad and we are very pleased with them."

Signing a player who has the same degree of quality as Souttar will be no easy task for the club, with the January window being traditionally tricky to navigate through.

Meanwhile the Potters are set to return to Sky Bet Championship action this weekend as the play host to Peterborough United at the Bet365 Stadium on Saturday.

The Verdict 

In short it is fair to say that Stoke have been dealt a hammer blow after it was revealed that Souttar would be out for such a long length of time.

They will now have to assess their options moving forwards, with the winter window sure to look appealing to Michael O'Neill and his staff at this moment in time.

The likelihood is that the club were looking to strengthen the squad in certain areas anyway, so now they may well have to add another position to the list.

With various loan and free agent options available, there are other alternatives to the club signing a player permanently should they wish to explore them.