The Football Association is investigating after the versatile defender was spotted lifting up his shift to dry the ball on red towel-like material in Stoke's 2-1 win last Sunday. Rules designate any towels must be made available to both teams, but Shotton, who took over the long-throw duties from Rory Delap, is adamant he did not bend the rules. He wrote on Twitter: "Right, I've obviously not made this clear enough to a few journalists or whoever else wants to have a go ... I wore a vest, not a towel! "Who would go through the effort of sewing a towel to a shirt? Really?" Striker Walters has also rubbished the speculation surrounding Stoke's long-throw tactics and any possible aid used by Shotton. "It was a vest!" he protested. "What are they going to do next, stop lads wearing gloves? What about cycling shorts? Just stop moaning and get on with it. "The throw-in has been part of football since the game started 150 years ago, but all of a sudden some people want to cut it out to do themselves a favour. "You look at the last 10 minutes of every match and if a team is losing they will launch it into the box. You look at Chelsea and Manchester City, they are experts at set-pieces. "But it is Stoke who get labelled as being all about set-pieces. Oh well, you don't score goals passing it along the halfway line."
