Pulis has praise for unsung heroes

10 April 2009 11:30
Tony Pulis reserved special praise for some of his Stoke side's unsung heroes ahead of Saturday's crunch Premier League clash with Newcastle.Stoke have soared up the table in recent weeks and much of their success has been credited to James Beattie, who has scored six goals in 10 games since joining from Sheffield United in January.Pulis has saught to keep the 31-year-old's feet on the ground, though, while dishing out praise to the likes of Matthew Etherington and Rory Delap for their recent performances.He said: "James has done smashing so far, but the season isn't over.People talk about Beats getting six in 10 but the important thing is he gets some more goals in the seven games left to play."I'm not congratulating him now, but waiting until the end of the season to see if he deserves a pat on the back."James and Ric (Fuller) look as if they're going to score goals but I thought Matty Etherington as absolutely first class at West Brom."He's got that pace and quality left foot that every club up and down the country is looking for, and I don't think he's got the credit he deserves for the way he played at West Brom. I've looked back at the game and he was absolutely superb."Then there's Rory who has done well when we've asked him to play in all different positions."He gets labelled as a one-trick pony but he's a good player and has played so many Premier League games for good managers. Everybody can't be wrong."Stoke claimed their first away win of the Premier League at West Brom last weekend but Pulis quickly put that success to the back of his mind to focus on the visit of Newcastle.The Magpies have appointed Alan Shearer until the end of the season in a bid to stave off relegation, but defeat at the Britannia Stadium would see them slip nine points behind Pulis' side.However Pulis believes they are in a false position and he has highlighted the danger of Michael Owen after the England striker was assured of a starring role by Shearer."He's a great player and his movement is still first class, which you'll never take away," said Pulis. "We've got to make sure we're prepared for him but they've also got the lad (Obafemi) Martins who they might play."I think Bassong will come back in at the back too but you can through their team name after name and they've got some great players."You can do that every week because it's a top league, the best in the world. What you do is forget about that and concentrate on what we've got and what we can do as a team and a unit."Meanwhile Salif Diao hopes the Potters fans will again turn up in their numbers on Saturday to drown out a visiting support buoyed by the appointment of their hero Shearer.He said: "I think Alan Shearer will have a very big influence on Newcastle, just like when Kevin Keegan came back. It seems that every time a team changes their coach they play us next!"But fortunately this time they played Chelsea first so hopefully that will put them a bit down before they come to us."We played against Newcastle last year in the cup and that was one of the best atmospheres we've seen here so hopefully the fans will be there again in their numbers on Saturday."[LNB]

Source: Eurosport