Stoke boss Tony Pulis has given exiled Matthew Upson hope amid rumours of a move from the club, telling him he's "going nowhere at the moment".

Stoke defender Upson's long-term future is on the agenda following his failure to command a regular starting place - and his failure to even make the bench in Stoke's last five fixtures.

Upson has been attracting interest from numerous clubs, including Chinese outfit Shanghai Shenhua.

But Potters boss Pulis has revealed he rejected a couple of loan inquiries for the 32-year-old former England defender during the January transfer window, and insists there could still be a future at the Britannia Stadium for the centre-back.

"Matty had the opportunity to go out on loan during the window and we turned that down," Pulis told the Stoke Sentinel.

"One or two clubs wanted to take him on loan - there wasn't a permanent deal on the table for Matty."

Pulis has defended his decision not to field the former West Ham star and England international, saying that there wasn't a space among the substitutes while Jonathan Woodgate or Andy Wilkinson were also there.

Asked if Upson had been frustrated by his lack of match action, Pulis acknowledged: "Yes, and rightly so, but he's a good lad."

But Pulis didn't dismiss the possibility of Shanghai's interest in Upson eventually coming to fruition.

"We do our business with other clubs, not through the press."

Upson will be needed by the club in the short-term because Robert Huth begins his three-match domestic ban on Saturday following last week's red card against Sunderland.

That likely results in Upson returning to the substitutes' bench as cover at Fulham today (3pm), but Pulis hasn't discounted the possibility of him being preferred to Jonathan Woodgate in central defence, alongside skipper Ryan Shawcross.

"We've got Woody and Matty who've been waiting in the wings to get into the starting line-up," explained Pulis.

"We've got loads of games this month (five in the next 15 days). It's a busy, busy period for us and they will all get some game time."