Stoke City midfielder Glenn Whelan has been ruled out for up to six weeks with a fracture of the right leg, manager Mark Hughes said Thursday.

Whelan suffered the injury while on international duty during the Republic of Ireland's 1-1 draw away to world champions Germany in Gelsenkirchen on October 14 and went off 54 minutes into the Euro 2016 qualifier.

The 30-year-old then missed Stoke's 2-1 victory over Swansea in the English Premier League on Saturday, and is now unlikely to return until December at the earliest.

That would mean he could miss several Stoke matches as well as the Republic's Euro 2016 qualifier against Scotland on November 14.

"He got a kick on the outside of his leg, and there is a slight fracture there," Hughes said.

"He's not been put into a plaster cast. We're going to try and manage it without that because Glenn feels he'll get back sooner.

"But the likelihood is he's going to be out for four to six weeks, I'd imagine, which is a blow for Glenn, obviously, because he is a big part of what we're doing, and we'll miss him.

"He's been playing really well of late, but we'll get him back as soon as we can.

"As for Ireland, knowing Glenn he'll try and make himself available, but my feeling is the game will be too soon for him.

"You have to let nature take it course. With fractures you have to give them enough time to heal."