Stoke boss Tony Pulis defended the character of Ryan Shawcross after Aaron Ramsey's horrific injury.
Stoke boss defends Shawcross character after Ramsey injury
Stoke boss Tony Pulis defended the character of Ryan Shawcross after the defender was sent off in the 3-1 defeat to Arsenal following a horrific injury to Aaron Ramsey.
Ramsey suffered a broken leg midway through the second half when Shawcross took a heavy touch and then stretched for the ball and collided with the Welsh midfielder.
While Pulis admitted Shawcross' challenge had to be punished with a red card, he insisted the 22-year-old, who left the field in tears, had not meant to injure his teenage opponent.
Pulis said: "It is a bad challenge but I know Shawcross, I signed him as a 19-year-old.
"He has got no bad blood in him whatsoever and there is no way in a million years he would ever go out to hurt anybody. I really mean that.
Condolences
"Everyone else at this football club sends their condolences on the incident, we wish him well for a speedy recovery and as a fellow Welshman I am devastated.
"But Ryan has come off the pitch broken-hearted, met his mum straightaway and gone straight home.
"For me the game is insignificant, the incident has really spoiled it."
After the game Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger hit out at the challenge, adding "Spare me the articles about how nice Shawcross is - it happened with Eduardo" referring to when his striker was injured at Birmingham in 2008.
But when told about Wenger's remarks, Pulis said: "He's can't comment on my players. He doesn't know what my players are made of or are about."
