Stoke City striker Peter Crouch won't hear a bad word said against former club Liverpool.

Crouch is an adopted son of Liverpool and knows he owes the fans big time after they stuck with him through an horrendous goal drought.

He said: "I honestly don't think there are many clubs who would have stuck by a striker who hadn't scored for so long.

"Right from the start, the supporters there were fantastic to me. I think when you go to a big club, you are under the spotlight straight away, but, obviously, not getting the first goal early on made it even more difficult.

"Every week it seemed to go on and it got to the stage where I'd just have given anything for one to go in.

"I was playing well, that was the thing, but I just couldn't get the goal. It was amazing how the fans reacted to me - it almost ended up being us against the world! The fans were so desperate for me to score as well."