Stoke manager Tony Pulis has defended his decision to axe Thomas Sorensen but admits the Danish goalkeeper is not happy about it.
It's a real competition, says Stoke boss
Stoke manager Tony Pulis has defended his decision to axe Thomas Sorensen but admits the Danish goalkeeper is not happy about it.
Asmir Begovic will start for the Potters against Norwich on Saturday, after being recalled to the Premier League starting line-up for last week's win over Swansea.
That victory ended a run of four successive league defeats with the 35-year-old Sorensen in goal and Pulis feels the switch was fully justified.
He said: "We thought Thomas has looked a bit tired and if you look at the games against West Brom, Sunderland and Fulham there were incidents in those games where you would have expected him to do better than he did.
"We decided to give him a break and although he's unhappy about it, no pro should be happy at being left out.
"Thomas has been up and had a chat. He's disappointed. I left Asmir out and Thomas came in and did brilliantly. Thomas had a bit of a dip and it's changed again.
"They are both good pros who know they have real competition. They don't want to be sitting around."
In fact, Pulis admitted he would prefer his players to be demanding to play rather than just choosing to accept it.
He added: "Sometimes you get people who don't bother their backsides and don't come in and ask why they have been left out and that makes you wonder."
