A photo has revealed the full extent of Stephen Ireland 's injury , which left the midfielder needing '12-13 stitches ' after Maynor Figueroa 's horror challenge left a three inch gash in his calf . The Stoke City player was taken off at half time and the prognosis of the nasty injury is likely to keep him out of action for a minimum of three weeks . Figueroa is unlikely to receive a ban with any potential retrospective action hinging on referee Neil Swarbrick and his officials ' prognosis of who saw the challenge . It is understood at least one of them did witness the incident . The gash in Stephen Ireland 's leg following Maynor Figueroa 's challenge left him needing ten stitches . The Stoke City ( left ) midfielder lies injured after the after horror tackle from the Honduras international . The incident left his manager Mark Hughes furious after the game who insisted the Honduras international could have ended Ireland 's career . He said : ‘ Stephen Ireland has been on the end of a horrendous tackle , one that should ’ ve seen a straight red . 'The tackle could 've finished his career . Why the referee has n't given a straight red I 've no idea . Figueroa cleared the ball and followed through to rake his studs down Ireland 's leg . He is likely to escape any action from the FA because the officials have confirmed they saw the incident . Ireland is now expected to miss the next three weeks of the season following his nasty injury . 'Ireland ’ s come in at half-time and rolled his sock down , there ’ s a wound needing 12-13 stitches . I ’ ve watched the video back , it ’ s shocking . We ’ re frustrated . They need to do better . ' The Britannia Stadium is no stranger to horror injuries , when Aaron Ramsey 's leg was broken following a Ryan Shawcross tackle in 2010 . Despite the shocking injury to Ireland , the Potters scored a late winner through Peter Crouch to help soften the news of his expected absence .
WARNING - GRAPHIC CONTENT . A photo has revealed the full extent of Stephen Ireland 's injury . The midfielder was the victim of a horror tackle from Maynor Figueroa . The full back wo n't face any action because the officials saw the incident . READ : Premier League needs video replays to help our referees . Click here for all the latest The Stoke City news .