by Martin Spinks
martin.spinks@thesentinel.co.uk

TONY Pulis reckons Stoke are gradually getting trendier in the wider world – and that can only boost future international prospects.

But he admits Matthew Etherington’s name would be bandied around far more in national circles if he was playing for a more established Premier League club.

“If Matty was at a different club, other people would be talking him up,” he said.

“But I think the fact we’ve signed a goalkeeper in Asmir Begovic, who was being chased by Chelsea and Spurs, shows we are hopefully getting there.

“England boss Fabio Capello is his own man, but I know his assistant [Franco Baldini] and [England under-21s coach] Stuart Pearce have both been here to look at Matty and Ryan [Shawcross].

“There was never any doubt about Matty’s ability and now people see what a great threat he is. He’s a great kid with a great attitude.

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“He’s got something to play for and if they are talking about England, that’s brilliant. He’s got 15 games to do it and you never know. If they pick up a couple of injuries on the left-hand side...”

Etherington rounded off the scoring with a brilliant second-half goal to add to first-half strikes by Danny Higginbotham and Mama Sidibe.

Pulis said: “It was a great performance and I was absolutely delighted with the players’ effort and commitment.

“Blackburn have had some good results of late and it was important we made our possession pay. I thought the two lads in central midfield [Delap and Whitehead] were brilliant and gave us the energy.

“There’s four tough games coming up and so I freshened it up – and their legs were outstanding.

“We also worked the set plays well, with the quality coming into the box from Matty and Liam [Lawrence] just outstanding.

“Mama’s goal will be a confidence booster for him. He was in the right position at the back post and that’s where we want him more often.

“We want to finish the second half of the season well and we’ve had a good start to it. But we are still greenhorns when it comes to the Premier League and so mustn’t get carried away.”

“Our Prozone stats are better than last year and it shows. We are monitoring what we do, and getting fitter and more athletic players in.”