Stoke City chairman Peter Coates has given manager Tony Pulis a vote of confidence.

Coates's support for Pulis has not been shaken.

He told The Sentinel: "Tony has done remarkably well for this football club, but every club in the Premier League has a lean spell at some point.

"I understand we are having a bad time, and if you don't get results and don't play well then managers get criticised, but there has to be some balance.

"We have had a very good period at this club and you have to look at the whole rather than a bad patch.

"I didn't think we played badly at Newcastle at Sunday; we deserved something from that game."