West Ham 2-2 West Brom: Tony Pulis slams Stoke treatment of him

Tony Pulis labelled claims he called Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross a "loser" as "absolutely disgraceful", insisting Stoke have "spun" the conversation.

The West Brom manager, whose team rescued a 2-2 Premier League draw at West Ham with Gareth McAuley's stoppage-time leveller, said he used the word "loser" but not in an aggressive way.

As the fall-out from Saido Berahino's ban for using a recreational drug and his transfer from West Brom to Stoke continued, their manager Mark Hughes on Friday insisted his predecessor Pulis called Shawcross a loser in a voicemail he left the defender.

However, Pulis claimed he told Shawcross "you've never been that", and that he felt "innuendos and allegations" about him were wrongly coming out of his former club.

"It's absolutely disgraceful," Pulis said. "Firstly, the phone call I made to Ryan is private, and then, yes, I did mention losers, but I said about people with innuendos making allegations that weren't true.

"When you lose a game of football you can still be a winner by taking it on the chin and getting on with it.

"I did use the word loser but I meant it in that way and I actually said, 'Ryan, you've never been that'.

"It has been spun in a horrible way and I have to say, Stoke-on-Trent, forget about the football club, or the people at the football club, and the supporters, Stoke-on-Trent is a wonderful place.

"I was there for 10 years and I have raised millions of pounds for the Donna Louise (Children's Hospice), which is in Stoke-on-Trent.

"I've actually carried the Olympic torch through Stoke-on-Trent. I took them from the Championship to the Premiership.

"I took them to an FA Cup final and to Europe. Do you think I'm going to criticise that area and those people? It's absolutely disgraceful whoever has put that out.

"I don't usually respond to bait and things like that, but I am really, really disgusted that from a few days before we played Stoke, [about] the innuendos coming out about Berahino, West Brom and myself."

At London Stadium, McAuley's goal had cancelled out second-half efforts from Sofiane Feghouli and Manuel Lanzini. Nacer Chadli had given West Brom a half-time lead.

Pulis was satisfied with his team's performance, and believes he has a squad that can go far.

"We played really well in the first half," Pulis told Sky Sports. "Then, Slaven [Bilic] changed the system at half-time and it caused us problems. We adapted best we could. We had the chances to come in at half time more than one goal up.

"It was a really good game, competitive with plenty of talking points.

"We have a really good group of lads. They have worked very hard. We showed some great quality today and we look as if we are going to score goals.

"We have players who have really bedded down with the group. At times it is nice to watch."