Saturday 1 April 2017 11:42, UK
Mark Hughes said there is no issue between Stoke team-mates Joe Allen and Glenn Whelan after the pair clashed during Republic of Ireland's game against Wales last week.
Ireland midfielder Whelan's forearm struck Allen in the face and the pair subsequently squared up to each other during the match, in a heated game that saw Neil Taylor being sent off for breaking Seamus Coleman's leg with a rash challenge.
But Hughes says the pair are friends and were simply being competitive, insisting "when I played I'd kick my granny if she was the opposition".
Ahead of Stoke's Premier League clash with Leicester, Hughes said: "They are team-mates, they enjoy each other's company, they were playing for their countries and wanted to win.
"They were just displaying national fervour. I looked at it myself and I think Glenn was thinking he was going to crash into Joe, and he made an involuntary action in my view.
"I don't think he actually threw an elbow, I think maybe he went to protect himself from the clash and he caught Joe on the chin, so that can happen.
"But you saw, almost immediately, Glenn saying he didn't do it on purpose and he made that point quite forcefully on the pitch I think. It's something of nothing.
"It happens more often in training games during the week, which people never hear about it, when the cameras aren't on. It is part and parcel of the game. People react to being clumped at times. That's how it is but there is no problem whatsoever."
