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Published: Tuesday 19 Aug 2008
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Pulis dismisses internet bookmakers' relegation insult

By Martin Spinks
martin.spinks@thesentinel.co.uk
STOKE boss Tony Pulis has dismissed an internet betting company’s attempt to belittle his players by telling it: “Thanks, you’ve made my job a lot easier.”

Pulis believes both players and fans will bond together even more after Paddy Power insulted Stoke by paying out to those punters betting on City being relegated... after the first game of the season.

“It’s lovely to be written off after one game,” he grinned. “I think it will galvanise not only the players, but also the city.

“It will bring people closer to the team. I think supporters know what we are up against and will be well behind us.

“As for myself, I don’t worry about things going on outside the football club because I can’t affect them. It’s good publicity for them and they have to do what they have to do. What concerns me more is things like our support. Our supporters will really get behind their club and drive us on.

“The Britannia has always been a difficult place to go and our supporters are fantastic when they get behind us – especially when we are underdogs – and it seems like the bookmakers have already written us off.”

And with an early eye on the Britannia’s first game in the Premier League on Saturday against Aston Villa, he added: “The secret of what we do this season will be what we do at home.”

He insisted every effort would be made to complete his recruitment programme in the fortnight left before the summer transfer window closes at midnight on Monday, September 1.

“It’s a big, big two weeks for us. The key is we get other players in and improve the team as we go along,” he stated. “The market is loosening up and I’m hoping that players who might not have been available will now become available.

“The balance of the team isn’t quite right at the moment and we also need players with Premiership experience.

“Someone like Richard Cresswell has filled in as a left-sided player all last season and got away with it, but if you ask Richard where he wants to play he’ll say he wants to play up front.”

Meanwhile, Stoke were hoping to officially announce the signing of Southampton defender Andrew Davies today for a fee of around £2m after he underwent a medical yesterday.

But the 23-year-old will not be considered for Saturday as he continues recovering his fitness following knee surgery at the end of last season.

“He’s had one or two injury problems over the last year or two and so we need to check everything is OK,” said Pulis.

“He probably needs a couple of weeks to get fit after missing quite a bit of pre-season.”

The club is not commenting on reports from the south coast that City midfielder Anthony Pulis will move to Southampton as part of the Davies deal.