Pulis and Wenger shake hands after Arsenal's 2-0 victory over Stoke

Stoke manager Tony Pulis has said he was happy to shake hands with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger after the Potters' 2-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium.

Wenger did not shake the hand of Manchester City manager Mark Hughes after the Gunners' Carling Cup defeat at Eastlands on Wednesday.

"I just said well done to him," Pulis told BBC Radio Stoke.

"If we lose a game, I always say well done to the opposing manager and shake his hand. He said 'thank you'."

Pulis and Wenger were involved in a war of words in November 2008, following Stoke's 2-1 victory over Arsenal at the Britannia Stadium.

Wenger accused some of the Stoke players of deliberately trying to injure the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor and Theo Walcott.

Pulis leapt to the defence of his players, particularly Ryan Shawcross and Rory Delap, who had been singled out by Wenger, by saying his side were "not a dirty team, but a competitive team".

In Saturday's latest meeting between the two ides, goals from Andrey Arshavin and Aaron Ramsay were enough to give the Gunners a comfortable victory, although Pulis was happy with the way his side acquitted themselves.

"It was better than last year (when Stoke lost 4-1 at the Emirates)," said the 51-year-old. "It was an improved performance.

"When they scored their second, we were in the ascendancy. They looked a little bit flustered and the longer it stayed at 1-0, I thought that would happen.

"Unfortunately we conceded the second goal and it stopped the momentum we were hoping to build up."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version