Ato Ampah has been luckless since joining Stoke City from Chelsea in the January transfer window

Ato Ampah has suffered a devastating knee injury that is likely to keep him out of action for the foreseeable future at Stoke City.

The 20-year-old winger joined Stoke from Chelsea in January with the hope of making an imminent breakthrough into senior football. Recovery from a toe injury proved more frustrating than expected but he worked through the summer to be fit for pre-season, when he suffered what in context was a minor set-back.

He has been stepping up his minutes with the under-21s in recent weeks in expectation that he would be available for senior selection after the last international break – but it was during that break that he has suffered an impact injury on his knee that has required surgery.

Mark Robins said this morning: “It’s really disappointing. It was an impact injury during the break and he was looking like he was ready to go in terms of his fitness and his availability and all of those things but he had an impact injury that meant he’s had to have surgery and it was quite serious surgery.

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“He’s going to be out for a fair amount of time and everybody is really disappointed for him.

“Surgery has gone well, so I’m told, but it will take a long time for that to heal to ensure that the surfaces of his joints are not compromised for the rest of his life.

“You don’t know what he could have been and what he could have given us and we’re just going to have to wait.

“For him it’s really, really difficult. He’s not been able to get going at all but this one was a challenge under a challenge that has really affected his knee. He’s had that surgery done, he’s had some corrective stuff done and that’s the bit that will take time because you’ve got to give it a chance to heal properly.”

Maksym Talovierov returns to the Stoke squad for Saturday's trip to Derby County after serving a one-match suspension.

Junior Tchamadeu and Bosun Lawal have made their returns to club football this week following injury while Sam Gallagher, Svante Ingelsson and Aaron Cresswell continue his rehabilitation.