STOKE City outcast Matthew Upson comes back in from the cold today after being told: "You're going nowhere at the moment."

Upson has been attracting interest from Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua.

And manager Tony Pulis has revealed he rejected a couple of loan inquiries for the 32-year-old former England defender during the January transfer window.

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.

But Pulis says there wasn't a space among the substitutes while Jonathan Woodgate or Andy Wilkinson were also there.

And he insists there is still a future for Upson at the Britannia Stadium.

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

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

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," was all he would say.

Pulis needs Upson in the short-term because Robert Huth begins his three-match domestic ban today following last week's red card against Sunderland.

That probably leaves 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."

Pulis's other decisions this afternoon revolve around the fitness of striker Cameron Jerome and winger Matthew Etherington.

Pulis said Jerome was still sore, but training, following the dead leg which forced him off during the first half of last Saturday's 1-0 home defeat by Sunderland.

And he reported that Etherington had now shaken off the virus that left him missing the Sunderland game entirely, but he remains concerned about the winger's energy levels after nearly a week under the weather.

GLENN Whelan and Jon Walters have been retained in the Republic of Ireland's 24-man squad for their friendly against the Czech Republic in Dublin on February 29.

However, there is still no place for Stoke City colleague Marc Wilson.