Stoke City boss Tony Pulis has paid tribute to the club's local chairman Peter Coates.

Pulis has already strengthened Stoke's squad to the tune of around £20million since they were promoted in May and the manager said: "What we have here is almost a unique situation at this moment in time.

"Peter lives in Stoke-on-Trent and Stoke City is his football club. He's here for the long term and is very keen to put firm foundations in place.

"We might not have the huge investment of some of the big boys, but we are not run by outside influences, which has to be a comfort."