Tony Pulis claims Stoke strike duo Jon Walters and Kenwyne Jones should not be judged on goals alone.
Potters boss hails the work Walters and Jones get through
Tony Pulis claims Stoke strike duo Jon Walters and Kenwyne Jones should not be judged on goals alone.
The Potters have struggled to find the target at times this season, with just 37 goals scored in 31 Premier League fixtures.
Nine of those have been provided by Walters, who currently leads the club's scoring charts in his debut campaign at the Britannia Stadium.
His fellow frontman Jones has weighed in with seven strikes, although the last of those came on New Year's Day.
Pulis claims he is not overly concerned about either tally, with the pair offering much more to the Stoke cause than just a goal threat.
"Jon has been a breath of fresh air, even when he wasn't scoring goals," said the Potters boss.
"His effort and commitment to the football club has been fantastic and he is the type of player that every club needs.
"Whether he is playing well or not, you always get the same from Jon and sometimes those players don't get appreciated.
Fantastic
"I think the crowd have started to take to him because he's scored some goals, but take those goals away and I still think he has been absolutely fantastic this year.
"What we try to emphasise at this football club is that it is not the person who scores the goals that we are worried about - we are more concerned about the performance of the team.
"If it's Ryan Shawcross, Robert Huth, Jermaine Pennant or Matthew Etherington and there are no forwards involved in scoring the goals, if we win games, that takes nothing away from the forwards."
On Jones, he added: "Kenwyne's last three or four games have been absolutely fantastic."
Meanwhile, Pulis has offered his support to Danny Higginbotham, who is set to miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury picked up in last weekend's 1-1 draw with Chelsea.
He said: "He's a terrific lad and this is desperately disappointing for him because it was an innocuous challenge which caused the injury.
"It's difficult to say at this point how long he will be out of action other than to say he will miss the rest of this season.
"We have to wait for the knee to settle down before he has an operation and that will determine the length of his absence."
