Stoke City are closing in on the addition of Frank Fielding to their goalkeeping ranks, according to The Sun's Alan Nixon.

Nixon revealed over the course of the weekend that the Potters were considering a move for the 33-year-old, who is a free agent following his release from Millwall over the summer.

Fielding was a back-up option at The Den as he failed to displace Bartosz Bialkowski in-between the sticks but he could be set to get another chance in the Championship after Stoke suffered a huge blow during the international break.

Young stopper Josef Bursik suffered a quad injury whilst with the England youth setup, meaning that Michael O'Neill has been left with just Adam Davies and Jack Bonham for the foreseeable future.

It would be catastrophic should one of those two suffer an injury as well so they are set to sign Fielding up, with the veteran already training with the club according to Nixon.

The Verdict

Considering Fielding will have played at Bristol City when Stoke assistant Dean Holden was there on the coaching staff then this should come as no surprise.

It's doubtful that Fielding will play any games unless Adam Davies gets injured but it will be useful to have some semi-reliable cover if the worst does happen.

With this deal seemingly happening it must mean that Bursik's issue is a long-term one which will be a big blow for O'Neill, who seemingly cannot catch a break with his side recently with Harry Souttar out for the season and Nick Powell already missing a large chunk of matches.

Fielding though is a low-risk addition and one that isn't going to jump off the page but he could prove to be a very necessary one.