Mitchel is being tipped for international honours this season

Hull Stingrays defenceman Craig Mitchell will miss the next six weeks with a broken arm.

The 19-year-old suffered the injury during the 6-2 defeat at Braehead and the Rays coach Sylvain Cloutier says he will be a big miss.

He told BBC Radio Humberside: "Craig came back this season bigger and better and I could rely on him every night.

"He's going to be one of the better defencemen in this league one day and we'll certainly miss him."

Mitchell, who signed for the Stingrays at the start of last season, suffered the break early in the game against the Scottish side.

He said: "I went down to block the puck and put my arm up in front of my face to protect myself and it hit my arm and I knew it was broken straight away.

"I've got it in a cast for four-to-six weeks and I managed to get the doctor to agree not to put my whole arm in pot. They wanted to do that but agreed to a half pot as long as I don't use it in a twisting motion."

Cloutier added: "Craig wants to be part of the Great Britain set up at the end of the season for the World Championships so he's a bit down at the moment but he's got plenty of time to force his way in when he gets back - if he plays well."

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