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

STOKE City’s man-of-the-moment Matty Etherington insists he remains happy at the Britannia – despite revealing a snag in current contract negotiations.

Stoke are ready to extend and improve his current contract after seeing Etherington fight off a much-publicised gambling addiction to rediscover his best form.

But fresh from inspiring Saturday’s 3-0 success over Blackburn, Etherington disclosed: “I don’t want to go too much into it [new contract] because it’s a bit of a sticky situation.”

He wouldn’t elaborate, but is possibly peeved that news of a pay rise is being linked to his on-going gambling debts, reportedly put as high as £800,000.

Etherington believes he is playing as well as ever and attributes that to his successful battle against the gambling demons afflicting him before leaving West Ham for Stoke 13 months ago.

“I’m happy with my form and happy at the football club,” he stressed.

“The manager has been brilliant with me and I’m very happy in my personal life.

“There’s been stuff written in the press about gambling, but that’s behind me now.

“It was a part of my life that took my focus off football, but I’ve put that behind me now.

“I will keep on top of it and make sure I won’t bet again. Since I stopped all that, my form has been really good and I’m keeping focussed on that.

“I’ll be the first to admit I made mistakes. It was a silly part of my life and got out of control, but that’s in the past.

“My form now has got to be up there with the best of my career. In my first season at West Ham, albeit in the Championship, I played quite well and was Hammer-of-the-year.”

Etherington capped Stoke’s biggest-ever Premier League win with a wonderfully-executed individual goal that left him admitting: “I’d done a bit of work to get there and when I turned inside, I got the ball stuck under my feet, so I was happy to get the goal.”

He remains modestly sceptical about his England chances, adding: “There’s four or five great players in my position like Joe Cole and Steven Gerrard – and they’re all top, top players.

“I’m not going to get my hopes up and get above myself. If I keep doing well for Stoke City, you never know, but it’s a long shot.”

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