Stoke City boss Tony Pulis has no burnout fears for skipper Ryan Shawcross.

Shawcross has played the whole 90 minutes of all but one of Stoke's 18 ­fixtures so far - the only two Premier League outfield ­players who have spent more time on the pitch this season are Fulham's Brede ­Hangeland and Danny ­Murphy.

Pulis said: "Ryan is just a fantastic kid and has been playing so well you wouldn't want to leave him out.

"Everybody else has been in and out, but we have used him and he doesn't want a rest. He just wants to play and play. The good thing is he's a young kid - and in any case he's playing in an easy position. Centre halves don't do as much running!"