Aston Villa have received a major boost with the news James Collins’ injury is not as bad as first feared.
The 27-year-old defender suffered a facial injury during Wales’ Euro 2012 qualifying defeat in Montenegro.
It was feared Collins may have suffered a fractured cheekbone or damage to the eye, but Villa received a reprieve with the news he has suffered only a black eye.
The challenge by Montenegro player Miodrag Dzudovic had left Wales boss John Toshack fuming.
Toshack said of the incident: “That looked an unfair challenge to me... and maybe warranted a harsher decision from the referee.
“Something obviously happened there... those things don’t happen by accident.”
Collins has now left the Wales camp to return to the Midlands where club doctors will determine if he will be fit to face Stoke a week on Monday.