Stoke City chairman Peter Coates has dismissed complaints from Manchester City over their tactics.
Coates rubbished talk of rough-house tactics - and said Stoke had grievances of their own.
"It's disappointing, we believe we are fair," Coates told Sky Sports News. "Records say we do OK in the Fair Play League.
"The incident with Whitehead was not intentional, he caught his ear. We could have had a penalty with the Gareth Barry incident but we get on with it.
"We don't lie down, we don't fall over, we're strong and physical but I don't accept we play the game anything other than in the right spirit.
"This idea we're a team of giants just doesn't bear relation to the facts - Chelsea are a big team, City are a big team."