Pulis hails Etherington return

Pulis: Pleased

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Stoke boss Tony Pulis hailed the return of Matthew Etherington at Burnley.

The winger played for the first time in nearly a month after overcoming a knee injury and he played the whole 90 minutes of the 1-1 draw at Turf Moor.

Pulis is also hoping Ricardo Fuller, who picked up a back problem at Chelsea over the weekend, will return at the weekend.

"That was the big plus tonight, not just the point, but Matty coming through the 90 minutes," Pulis told Sky Sports.

"We were disappointed Ricardo didn't make it, but we are hoping he will be fit for the Villa game. He fell over and jarred his back at Chelsea, but they think he has a great chance for Saturday.

"But getting Matty through is brilliant."

On the draw at Burnley where David Nugent cancelled out Tuncay Sanli's opener, Pulis admits his side looked tired at times in Lancashire.

"We have played a lot of games in the last few weeks and we knew it was going to be tough," he said.

"There are no 'gimmies' in the Premier League - just ask Benitez after their [Liverpool's] result at Wigan, you have to respect every team you play and it was a difficult night, it is always difficult coming here.

"But with the injuries and suspensions we had, it is a big result for us."

Long throw

Pulis refused to condemn Burnley's attempts to hinder Rory Delap's long throws, by placing advertising hoardings close to the sidelines.

"They stuck the boards out about two inches from the sideline," he said.

"But we are not going to moan and groan, you just get on with it - but now it is a weapon everyone is using and we use it with great success.

"The worst thing to happen was half-time, we looked tired and for 20 minutes they really stepped it up a gear. When they got the goal they got the crowd behind them but we saw it through and in the end it became end to end."