EAST LONDON, England (CMC):

Stoke City boss Tony Pulis declared yesterday that Jamaican striker Ricardo Fuller and team captain Andy Griffin have settled their differences after an ugly clash between the two last weekend in the English Premier League.

Fuller collected a red card for slapping Griffin on the face after a heated exchange between the teammates after West Ham equalised against them at Upton Park last Sunday.

"Both of them have now apologised, not only to one another, but to the group," Pulis said in a Stoke City website story yesterday.

Pulis said Griffin and Fuller were brought to account in front of their teammates during an open and honest meeting in which everyone was allowed their say.

"They will be punished, but it will be dealt with in-house. We have kept it within the club and that's where it should be. Things that are said and done in the dressing room are kept in the dressing room," said Pulis, who has steadfastly rejected calls this week to sack the Jamaican forward for his bizarre outburst.

Nonsense

"I think people will make what they will of this situation, but Ric has got another two or three years left on his contract. Talk about him going to leave or being sacked is nonsense," Pulis.

The Stoke City manager described Fuller as a 'smashing lad' with 'great talent' and suggested that he has been forgiven for his actions.

"He's had his moments, but then others have had their moments as well. There was a disagreement and what Ric did was wrong. But everybody makes mistakes and we get on with life," Pulis said.

"The incident is disappointing in a lot of respects, but in other respects it shows the lads have got passion.

"We had a really good meeting about the focus on what we have and haven't got to do - and focus all the feeling in the right way," Pulis said.

The incident was triggered when an incensed Fuller confronted Griffin supposedly about how he allowed West Ham's Carlton Cole to evade him to score in the 51st minute, wiping out Abdoulaye Faye's fourth-minute header that had given Stoke the lead.

Fuller apologised earlier this week but appeared to fan the flames of the controversy when he explained that he became enraged because Griffin was "rude and disrespectful to him".

Very rude

"I said to him, 'Griff, clear the ball out' and he was very rude and disrespectful," Fuller said in a television interview when asked why the confrontation occurred.

Fuller will miss today's FA Cup third round trip to Hartlepool as he begins his three-match ban following last Sunday's red card.

Griffin is also unlikely to feature after picking up a hamstring injury at Upton Park.

Fuller, who originally came to Britain in 2001 to play for Hearts in Scotland, also played in England for Preston North End, Portsmouth, Southampton and Ipswich Town before joining Stoke City for a fee of around £500,000 in 2006.