Lawrence dogged by injury

Stoke's Liam Lawrence became the latest in a long line of footballers to suffer a freak injury - by tripping over his pet dog.

The former Sunderland winger suffered the bizarre injury to his ankle this morning, leaving Potters boss Tony Pulis with a potential selection headache for Sunday's clash.

Pulis told www.stokecityfc.co.uk: "He has stepped over his dog on the stairs and his ankle just gave way and he went over on it.

"The initial scan has shown no break but we have sent him back for another X-ray to make sure.

"We don't know how serious it is at the moment, he may be okay for Portsmouth, but then again he may not be fit. We will have to wait and see."

Take a look at our gallery to see which illustrious players have called off sick in strange circumstances.