Stoke City captain Andy Griffin insists he accepts being axed from the squad for the past two games.

"At the moment, I find myself down the pecking order for both right-back and left-back," he acknowledged to The Sentinel.

"Things like that happen in football. No player likes not playing because you train all week for the game at the weekend, then find you're not playing for whatever reason.

"But I'm a lot more mature and life-experienced now and so you learn how to handle such situations. Sometimes you think you should be playing, but I'm not paid to make those decisions. In the past I've handled it incorrectly, especially at Newcastle, but now I'm a lot more experienced.

"A great remedy is knowing you can go home and your family is living just around the corner, or knowing your problems are nothing compared to people losing their jobs."