Alan Pardew denies that there is any rift with Christian Dailly
after he played the full 90 minutes for Scotland against Denmark
midweek.
Claims that he has 'slammed' or 'slated' Christian for playing in the friendly, are, he says, simply not true.
"It was a worrisome night on Wednesday and all I expressed to the press was that I really didn't want him to play - no more than that," he insists.
"It has been spun out of all proportion that I slammed him etc. etc. - and that is absolute rubbish.
"He is very important to us on Saturday and I wouldn't dream of doing anything like that."
Talking after attending the Hammer of the year awards, he adds:
"I have spoken to Christian and he is fine; we train tomorrow and look forward to Saturday.
"The real blessing is that he has come through unscathed and we go in with the back four that has got three clean sheets in the last out of four."