Stoke City’s goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen is confident he will make this summer’s World Cup following a positive report on the elbow injury which had threatened his spot in South Africa.

The Danish number one was rated as doubtful to feature for his country after it appeared that he had suffered a long term injury during the game Premier League against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last month.

However, subsequent scans showed the damage wasn't as serious as first feared, and after taking part in a light training session at the Britannia Stadium this week, the 33-year-old says he is anticipating making a full recovery in time for their Group E opener against the Netherlands next month.

Talking to Stoke’s website, he said, "I had a second scan yesterday and it's progressing really well.

"Obviously, there is still a fair bit of bruising and muscle loss around the elbow, but it is healing really well and the capsule has sealed itself and the ligaments are intact which is hugely important for me.

"I am now starting to build it all up again and I had a first feel of the ball yesterday which was good, but again there is still a way to go. Hopefully, within a couple of weeks, with a lot of hard work in between, I will be back and close to resuming full training.

"The key is not pushing it too much because it is easy to do that when you feel good and you then run the risk of doing too much which in the end could backfire and put you in a worse situation that you were in originally. I just have to keep ticking on slowly and be sensible, which I will be. There are still five weeks to go until the first game and at the moment I am very optimistic.

"I was devastated [at the time of the injury]. I don't know whether people saw but I was crying as I was being taken off the pitch because I thought that was it.

"The first thing I thought about was the World Cup because obviously Stoke were already safe in the Premier League, so the World Cup was my big target then and when I felt my elbow go I really thought my chances of going were gone.

"Obviously though I am feeling a lot better now because it wasn't as bad as it could have been, and I suppose luck was on my side. As I said there is still a bit of work to be done before the tournament but the omens are looking good for me."

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