Ryan Shawcross is confident James Beattie has not been affected by the striker's alleged bust-up with Tony Pulis.
Defender challenges team-mate to hit headlines for right reasons
Ryan Shawcross is confident Stoke City team-mate James Beattie has not been affected by the striker's alleged bust-up with Tony Pulis.
Reports have claimed that Potters boss Pulis and Beattie had a confrontation in the dressing room after last week's defeat at Arsenal regarding the club's Christmas party.
Pulis has confirmed discussing the issue with Beattie and says the former Sheffield United forward will be in his squad for Saturday's game against Wigan Athletic if he proves his fitness.
And Shawcross has challenged Beattie to score against the Latics, live on
Sky Sports 1, believing the situation could actually help Stoke.
Lively
"It isn't good that he has got all these headlines," said Shawcross. "But maybe he'll play, score a goal and write his own headlines.
"Beatts has been his usual lively self. He hasn't spoken much about what happened, but he's a character.
"He's a good lad and all the players like him. We hope he's here for the rest of the season.
"And if he gets fit, we hope we can be talking about what a great season he has had and about how many goals he has scored.
"Last year we had a fall-out between Ricardo Fuller and Andy Griffin, so it has happened before.
"Afterwards, it was water under the bridge straight away. They get on really well now. Maybe we can use this to push on."
