Stoke chairman Peter Coates has fired back at Danny Murphy over his comments about tackling in the Premier League.
Fulham midfielder Murphy has accused Potters boss Tony Pulis, as well as Blackburn's Sam Allardyce and Wolves' Mick McCarthy, of sending his players out for action too ‘pumped up’.
But Coates has spoken out in defence of Pulis, saying Stoke play the game in the ‘right spirit’.
Coates told the club’s official website: “I am surprise by his comments.
“He himself is a very competitive player and maybe with hindsight he perhaps wishes he had said nothing, but there you are.
“We are a strong team, we are competitive, but we like to think we are fair and play the game in the right spirit. That’s how it should be.
“If you look at the disciplinary league table this year, we are doing OK. We are sitting in 10th place and you will see in that league table some notable names below us and some red cards being shown to those notable names as well.”