Saido Berahino has been banished to Stoke’s under-23s after infuriating manager Paul Lambert with his time-keeping.

Berahino, Stoke’s £12m signing, is facing an increasingly bleak future with the Premier League strugglers after turning up late for the club’s under-23s game on Easter Monday.

The former England under-21 international is understood to have been fined for the incident and was ordered to train with the under-23s on Thursday, in another setback to his faltering career.

Lambert has put in place a code of conduct since his appointment in January, which includes arriving at the club’s Clayton Wood training ground for 9.15am in the morning.

But Berahino is alleged to have reported late for the game against Aston Villa’s under-23s on Monday and is now paying the price, with his chances of a first-team recall appearing remote at this stage. Berahino did play for 64 minutes in the game, which Stoke lost 3-1.

It is the latest example of poor discipline from Stoke’s squad, after Ibrahim Afellay was told to stay away from the club and Erik Pieters was fined £70,000 for breaking a curfew the night before the game against Everton.