Stoke midfielder Glenn Whelan has played down his role in helping Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey.
Stoke man plays down role in comforting Welshman
Stoke midfielder Glenn Whelan has played down his role in helping Aaron Ramsey in the immediate aftermath of his sickening injury 14 months ago.
Arsenal youngster Ramsey suffered a fractured tibia and fibula at the Britannia Stadium last February following Ryan Shawcross' dangerous challenge.
Players from both teams were shocked by the extent of the injury as the Wales international lay on the pitch, but Whelan earned many plaudits for being one of the first on the scene.
The Stoke man attempted to comfort Ramsey and take his mind off what had happened before the Arsenal medical staff arrived.
Pain
But ahead of a first meeting with Ramsey since the injury, when Arsenal play at Stoke on Sunday, Whelan said in the
Daily Star: "I knew something terrible had happened and I was just basically trying to comfort him.
"I'm sure he was trying to touch his leg and I wanted to take his mind off it.
"I could see things weren't right and he obviously knew himself, but he was trying to touch his leg and look at it and I was trying to take his mind away from that.
"Basically I was just saying not to worry, just talking nonsense really, but to be fair the Arsenal staff came on sharpish and got on with things.
"The lad held on to me with the pain he was going through and I was just telling him not to think about it."
Respect
Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger maintains he will 'have nothing special to say' to Ramsey ahead of kick-off at the Britannia Stadium.
"If you respect Aaron, let him prepare the game and play his game. I have nothing special to say," Wenger said.
"When you play football you try to control the ball well and make a good pass. When you do not have the ball you try to win it back, and you do not look who is against you.
"The foul happened [more than a] year ago and we cannot prepare for football games thinking like that."
