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Stoke City boss Tony Pulis hopes Fabio Capello is keeping track of in-form Matthew Etherington
Potters manager backs midfielder for England call-up...
6 Feb 2010 18:39:00
By Steven Saunders
Stoke City manager Tony Pulis heaped praise on Matthew Etherington after the midfielder orchestrated a fine 3-0 win over Blackburn Rovers at the Britannia Stadium.
Pulis was celebrating his 300th game in charge of the Potters, and his players responded with their biggest winning margin in the Premier League to date.
Etherington rounded off the win with a well-taken goal midway through the second half, after Danny Higginbotham and Mamady Sidibe had put Stoke 2-0 in front by half-time.
Manager Pulis feels Etherington's performances of late deserve greater recognition.
"Matthew's been excellent," he told Sky Sports. "If he was playing for a bigger club then people would be talking about him. He and [Ryan] Shawcross were outstanding today."
Asked whether he thought Fabio Capello will have taken notice, Pulis said: "I hope so. I know his assistant [Franco Baldini] has been caught [watching] a few times, and I know Stuart [Pearce] has been here and I still think places [in the World Cup squad] will be up for grabs.
"He [Capello] is his own man and if he sees something then he'll do it."
Pulis had sympathy for rival manager Sam Allardyce over the incidents that led to a red card for Blackburn's Christopher Samba early in the second half.
"We scored the goals at the right time. Obviously we were helped by Samba getting sent off. I'm not sure what the first one [yellow card] was for, I'm sure Sam will have his opinions on that.
"We played some good stuff but they were down to 10 men. You always know that Sam's team are going to be competitive and it's going to be tough and we were just fortunate that we performed well."
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Pulis was celebrating his 300th game in charge of the Potters, and his players responded with their biggest winning margin in the Premier League to date.
Etherington rounded off the win with a well-taken goal midway through the second half, after Danny Higginbotham and Mamady Sidibe had put Stoke 2-0 in front by half-time.
Manager Pulis feels Etherington's performances of late deserve greater recognition.
"Matthew's been excellent," he told Sky Sports. "If he was playing for a bigger club then people would be talking about him. He and [Ryan] Shawcross were outstanding today."
Asked whether he thought Fabio Capello will have taken notice, Pulis said: "I hope so. I know his assistant [Franco Baldini] has been caught [watching] a few times, and I know Stuart [Pearce] has been here and I still think places [in the World Cup squad] will be up for grabs.
"He [Capello] is his own man and if he sees something then he'll do it."
Pulis had sympathy for rival manager Sam Allardyce over the incidents that led to a red card for Blackburn's Christopher Samba early in the second half.
"We scored the goals at the right time. Obviously we were helped by Samba getting sent off. I'm not sure what the first one [yellow card] was for, I'm sure Sam will have his opinions on that.
"We played some good stuff but they were down to 10 men. You always know that Sam's team are going to be competitive and it's going to be tough and we were just fortunate that we performed well."
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|
| Open an account with Sportingbet today and get up to £50 in free bets! |
|
| Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
|
| Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
|
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