Peter Crouch is happy to take young Stoke City teammate Olly Shenton under his wing this season.

Crouch is offering words of wisdom at training, and was at close quarters when 16-year-old Shenton, from Blythe Bridge, made his debut in the Capital One Cup against Portsmouth earlier this month.

In his column for Loaded magazine, Crouch says: "I'm now among the oldest players at Stoke I like to take the young lads under my wing.

"We've got one breaking through at the moment. Olly is only 16, but is the best young player I've seen at the club.

"He came off the bench in a League Cup game recently and I said to him he should ease himself in with a couple of simple passes to settle. Olly ignored me, went past two players and hit a 30-yarder. Let's just say he's got plenty of confidence."