Stoke boss Mark Hughes insists there is no cause for concern regarding the recent injury problems experienced by Ryan Shawcross. Shawcross has been a virtual ever-present performer at the heart of the Potters defence for some time, but the club captain has been restricted to 16 appearances this season.The 28-year missed the start of the season having undergone back surgery over the summer, and after returning to action in October, he suffered another back problem towards the end of last month which is expected to rule him out for three to four weeks. Speaking ahead of Saturdays match against Aston Villa, Hughes said he hoped Shawcross might be able to return in another weeks time.When asked if he had concerns over Shawcross in the long-term, Hughes said: Hes not that old, is he?This is a completely different injury to the previous one, and I just think it was a consequence of the period we went through after he came back before.We came through a lot of really high intensity games in a short period and I think that compromised him. But I dont think long-term theres any concern in terms of managing his game time. I think he will always have a good number of games in any given season. Stoke boss Mark Hughes watched his side beat Aston Villa earlier in the season Certainly we will be more mindful if he gets twinges - it would be silly not to register them or put him in situations where he might be compromised again.But I dont have any real concerns in that regard. He wants to come back making sure he is available for all the games through to the end of the season. That is his goal, and we fully support him on that.Stoke have not played since their 3-1 Premier League victory at Bournemouth on February 13, with Hughes taking his players to a training camp in Dubai in between.They return to action against a Villa side in dire straits, lying eight points adrift of safety at the foot of the table with 12 matches to go.Asked if he thought Villa are doomed, Hughes said: I think its very difficult - you get to a point where you end up running out of games, even if you have had a big swing in form or momentum.It may be theyre coming to point where theyll feel like that. But they are not out of it and while they still feel they can stay in the league, they will have a go. Also See: Stoke v Villa preview Wilkinson announces retirement Mersons predictions Imbula is the new Vieira Wholesale Custom Wizards Shirts .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons. Custom Wizards T-shirts . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2. http://www.customwizardsjersey.com/ . Following a lopsided 5-2 loss against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night, Paul MacLean told reporters that "theres a lack of focus, theres a lack of leadership and theres a lack of preparation" with his struggling team. That came on the heels of Bryan Murray taking the unusual step of going into the locker room at the Prudential Center and addressing the players himself. Custom Gilbert Arenas Jersey . The formidable trio of Canadian receivers -- individually known as Chris Getzlaf, Rob Bagg and Andy Fantuz -- will share the field at Mosaic Stadium one more time on Sunday. Cheap Custom Wizards Jersey . -- Three close looks at the bucket, three misses. SEATTLE -- By his own admission, Jordan Morris didnt know if he would have scored that kind of a goal early in the season.All that mattered to the Seattle Sounders; rookie forward is he scored one on Saturday afternoon.Morris tallied in the 81st minute, and the Sounders beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0 to keep their MLS playoff hopes alive.Nicolas Lodeiro set up the goal by floating a target ball into the penalty area toward the top of goalkeeper David Ousteds 6-yard box. Morris ran onto it through traffic and sent a diving header into the net.Thats a good goal by any standard, and its also a brave goal because Jordan sticking his head in there is not easy, Sounders interim head coach Brian Schmetzer said. But he does that and gets a goal, and thats his reward.Morris said his ability -and willingness -- to do something like that is simply the result of picking up more experience.Im definitely growing in confidence as the season has gone on, said Morris, who now has a team-leading 10 goals. Adding Nico in there, he plays in those great balls.Vancouver (9-14-7), also trying to stay in the playoff picture, has just two wins in its last 11 games.This one hurts a little bit more than the others because I dont think we got what we deserved today, Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson said. Performance-wise, we were spot on. We mixed it with a very good team; we went toe-to-toe. We didnt want to tie the game, we wanted to win the game. Sometimes when you gamble, you give up things at the other end.Up to the time of Morris goal, the Sounders (10-13-5), who won for the first time since Aug. 21 and snapped a three-game winless streak, had the clear run of play. But they had nothing to show for it.As a forward,, you feel responsible that its your job to put the ball in the back of the net, Morris said.dddddddddddd. You just have to keep pushing, keep going, and feel confident that your chance will come.Lodeiro, the Uruguayan international who joined the Sounders at the end of July and has played every minute of the eight games since then, has factored into the scoring into the last seven of those games. He has seven assists, along with three goals.We worked all week long to try to create chances, or create enough quality chances to hit at least one, Schmetzer said. Its a testament to that group of guys that they created enough chances and got one.Goalkeeper Stefan Frei had his sixth shutout of the season, and came up big twice during the first half to preserve it.In the fifth minute, he knocked away a point-blank, 12-yard shot by Erik Hurtado.Then in the 14th minute, a ball was lofted high into the middle of the Seattle penalty area, with Frei playing way off his line. Hurtado got behind him, but Frei quickly turned around, leaped, and reached over from Hurtados right to slap the ball out of his reach and away from the wide-open net.I think I was fortunate to be able to kind of make him take a high touch, Frei said. At that point, its just a scramble to try to come back. Im fortunate he didnt try to box me out. Maybe he forgot about me a little bit and gave me a chance to come back.Frei, who was not credited with a save on any of Vancouvers eight shots, got some help from the left goalpost in the 69th minute when Hurtados 15-yard attempt from the far side slammed off it. ' ' '