Stoke City winger Matthew Etherington insists he still follows West Ham United's results.

Etherington takes no pleasure in seeing his former club struggle, although he is obviously committed to securing three points for Stoke.

"It would be nice to get a win over West Ham, I'm not going to lie. It is all about Stoke on Saturday," he said.

"I'm very surprised to see West Ham in the bottom three. They are a club I want to see do well, because I had five-and-half great years there.

"I'll always follow them. They are close to my heart, because they were always good to me - and so were the fans. They have a lot of good players and they play some nice, neat and tidy football. But there doesn't seem to be much of a cutting edge.

"If Carlton Cole is not fit you struggle to see where they will get the goals from."