Tony Pulis feels managers have never been under as much pressure as they are now. The issue of stress for managers in the modern game has come under the spotlight this week with Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce getting ready to undergo heart surgery on Friday.

Stoke travel to Rovers on Saturday where Rovers assistant manager Neil McDonald will take charge of first-team affairs for the third consecutive match.

"There is more pressure now than there has ever been on managers in respect of getting results," Pulis told Press Association Sport.

"The media now has become an absolute monster.

"Whether it's the internet, radio, television, there are always areas of debate, but you have to accept it.

"We know where we are and what job we are doing and we know that all the experts are sitting in the stand."

Pulis, who ran the London Marathon earlier this year, said he was always conscious of keeping himself fit and healthy.

"You never like to see anybody in Sam's state, having to go in and having an operation," he said.

"I'm sure the people that are working with Sam are decent people.

"I work hard fitness-wise, try to keep myself as fit as I possibly can in the time that I get."