Shotton hails Woodgate impact

Published Aug. 29, 2011 3:15 p.m. ET

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Woodgate joined Stoke over the summer after an injury-plagued spell at Tottenham and produced another rock-solid performance during Sunday's 1-0 win at West Brom. Shotton came off the bench to score a last-gasp goal courtesy of a mix-up between Ben Foster and Gabriel Tamas, but he was quick to praise the contribution of Woodgate. He said: "You take a chance on player who has not had the best of luck with injuries and that's what he gives you. "You know he is one of the top defenders in the country. That's why he has played for Real Madrid and England. "You can't ask any more from him. He has done brilliantly and I'm sure he will do it all season long. "He is a massive influence in the dressing room, a voice to be heard all the time, before the game lifting everyone, reminding everyone what they are doing, your jobs, and that's what you need." When asked if Woodgate could earn an England comeback, Shotton said: "Yes, I can't see why not; massively. Jonathan and Ryan Shawcross are going to help each other. "If they can both be in England squad, it will be brilliant for Stoke City and England as well." Shotton currently has more modest ambitions. He has has been linked with a loan or permanent move away from Stoke but wants to stay with his local club and nail down a place in the team. He said: "I'm here, playing for Stoke, that's all I keep telling people. If I'm playing, I'm happy. "That's all I want to do, play football. If it is not at Stoke the next couple of months, then maybe I do have to go out on loan. "People have told me bids have been put in for me but at the moment we haven't spoken about anything so we will see what happens. "It's my local club, I've been here since I was nine, 10 years old so who would want to leave?" Albion have now lost their opening three games, including setbacks against high-riding Manchester United and Chelsea, and Jonas Olsson knows they must improve. Olsson said: "You want to get up and running as soon as possible. You don't want to stay on zero points for too long. "If you look at these opening three fixtures, we ended up with no points from those games last season as well and had quite a good season. "It is very early to speak about a crisis. The basics are there. We looked quite solid in all three games but details have to be better, I guess." But Olsson added: "I don't think it's down to luck. You are heading the wrong way if you blame defeats on bad luck. "I think these three games we've played well, but not played well enough, and we've not been focused enough for 90 minutes, I guess. "We tend to play all right but not good enough and United, Chelsea and Stoke will punish you. "Stoke are an efficient team. That is why they are so good. Give them a goal chance and they will take it and they defend well also. That's why they are up there and we are not."