Stephen Ireland can remember the moment, with pin-sharp clarity, when his world was turned upside down. It was almost 20 months ago, on a spring morning during a training session at Stoke, five days before the end of the Premier League season when times were considerably better for manager Mark Hughes.

Ireland went in for a 50-50 challenge with friend and team-mate Dionatan Teixeira and seconds later suffered the most excruciating pain, his left fibula and tibula completely shattered after an innocuous collision.

Even now, as he prepares to make his first appearance in 609 days at Coventry in the FA Cup this weekend, the memories remain vivid.

“I remember what happened as clear as day. It was a very relaxed session and in the last 15 seconds I was going for the tackle and nudged the ball off line and he [Teixeira] judged it wrong.

“He kicked through with his heel on my shinbone. I heard it snap and knew instantly it was broken. I was hopping on my right leg and looked down at my left leg – the ankle and foot was like jelly, swinging.

“I have quite a high pain threshold but this was something else. It was so gruesome. I’d have done anything to go back in time three seconds and pull out of the challenge. I knew it was going to be life-changing. Teixeira was sitting there, tears in his eyes and he’s now since passed away, God rest his soul [from a heart attack in November 2017].