Injury blow for Stoke's Sidwell

London - Stoke City midfielder Steve Sidwell will be sidelined for up to six weeks after sustaining a knee ligament injury in Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Liverpool.

"The medical people are telling me it's likely to be four to six weeks," City manager Mark Hughes told reporters.

"It's a blow to us going into the Christmas period with the amount of games we've got."

Stoke, who are 12th, travel to fourth-placed Manchester United on Tuesday looking to avoid a third successive Premier League defeat.