Stoke City boss Tony Pulis sees Ryan Shotton as a long-term midfielder.

Pulis insists his instincts are really those of an attacking player after actually beginning life playing up front before being converted to a defender by former Stoke youth-team boss Noel Blake.

"It's a fallacy that he's a defender, as everyone seems to think," Pulis told The Sentinel.

"If you ask him, he played as a centre-forward as a schoolboy here, but Blakey changed him to a centre-half.

"So he's always been a forward-thinking player who got turned into a defender.

"He's got good energy and pace, while the three crosses he put in against Swansea were of the greatest quality.

"Playing in midfield is very much a long-term option for him."