Jermaine Pennant has moved to play down fears over his future by claiming he would like to stay at Stoke for another two years.
Former England Under-21 international wants to stay a wide man
Jermaine Pennant has moved to play down fears over his future by claiming he would like to stay at Stoke for another two years.
Pennant, 29, was believed to have been dropped from the team earlier this season for breaching club rules which triggered doubts over his time at the Britannia Stadium.
But the former Arsenal and Liverpool winger still has a year left on his deal, and revealed it could be extended by another year, if he plays a certain amount of games next term.
"I am still here, no-one has said anything about leaving and I am not going to leave," he told
The Sentinel.
"I'm going to return in July for pre-season training - although I'm not looking forward to that!
"I've still got another year on my contract and then another year kicks in after appearances, so I could eventually have two years left."
Pennant used Twitter to voice his concern after he was played as a wing-back against Wigan recently.
However, he insisted he was not criticising manager Tony Pulis and that their relationship is as strong as ever.
He added: "In the Wigan game we didn't push on as much, the team were doing a lot of defending and so was I.
"My best position is pushing forward and getting crosses in, but we were on the back foot a lot and we didn't play the greatest football.
"When I said what I did, I meant I spent most of the game defending and playing as a wing-back.
"Someone wanted to make a story from it, but the gaffer understood what I was trying to say.
"He quashed any story about that. He didn't speak to me about it, he was fine with it."
