Jon Walters’ latest act of comradeship proves he is a team player first

Andy Wilkinson is getting a testimonial from Stoke City and there is no way in hell Jon Walters will miss it.

The 31-year-old was forced to retire, earlier this year, after a concussive blow damaged a part of his brain that affects peripheral vision. Wilkinson had been with Stoke for 14 years and had lined out for the club more than 130 times. Being medically advised to retire was a big shock to the system but it is heartening to hear Stoke are donating the testimonial takings to him. Wilkinson's testimonial match will take place on Monday, May 16 and one of the first Stoke players to commit to featuring at it is Walters. This is despite the fact that Walters underwent surgery on his knee only last week. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/715677057871659008 Potters boss Mark Hughes has told reporters that he expects Walters back between four and six weeks. The latter end of that would mean Walters could be cutting it tight to feature in Wilkinson's send-off. According to the Stoke Sentinel, Walters has told Wilkinson he will lace up and get out on that Britannia Stadium pitch. Teammates first. One would expect little else from Ireland's No.14. Walters, himself, hopes to be back playing by early May as he targets returning to full fitness in plenty of time for Ireland's final Euro 2016 warm-ups against The Netherlands and Belarus. The first Stoke player to sign up for the game was the eminently likeable Peter Crouch. The testimonial will also feature Wilkinson's fellow Stoke youth academy graduates Martin Paterson, Louis Moult and Ryan Shotton.