Stoke City said on Tues. Aug. 7 that defender Robert Huth was taken to hospital after coming down with some sort of mystery virus in training. The German defender will undergo a series of tests to see if doctors can pinpoint the problem. Huth was set to play in Stoke’s last few pre-season matches, but he may now have to miss them.

His sudden illness and hospitalization is a worrying the club since they don’t know what he has and if it’s possibly something that could be contagious. Manager Tony Pulis said on the club’s official website, "It's a major concern so close to the start of the new season because Huthy is such an important figure for us.  It takes a lot to knock Huthy back, but he was clearly not well, so we have sent him to hospital and will hopefully have the results of the tests on him tomorrow. We're just hoping he will be okay and it's not too serious."

The 27-year-old Huth joined Stoke in 2009 after stints with Chelsea and Middlesbrough. He’s scored 17 goals in 130 total appearances with the team and also has two goals in 19 games with the German international squad, but hasn’t played for them since 2009.

Pulis also spoke about Sebastian Boenisch, who is a Polish international felt-back and is on trial with the club during the pre-season. Boenisch appeared in all of Poland’s games during this summer’s Euro 2012 tournament, but he has been released by German club Werder Bremen. He’s now hoping to be able to earn a spot with somebody in the Premier League.

Pulis said that Boenisch is available to them on a free transfer and he’ll be watching him closely over the next couple of games to see if he may have a future with Stoke.