Stoke City's Jonathan Woodgate 'disappointed' at Europa League snub
Last updated on .From the section Football
Jonathan Woodgate says he is "disappointed" at being left out of Stoke City's Europa League squad.
The defender is not in Tony Pulis's 25-man party as the manager feared a recurrence of Woodgate's injuries if he spent too long travelling.
The Potters are away to Dynamo Kiev of Ukraine on Thursday and also have trips to Israel and Turkey.
Woodgate, 31, said: "I'm obviously disappointed because you want to play as many games as you can."
Stoke travel to Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel on 3 November and Turkish side Besiktas on 14 December.
In total, City will cover a total of 11,000 miles on their three away trips.
Woodgate added: "I understand where the manager's coming from.
"It's not a problem, you take it on the chin and get on with it."
Former Tottenham and Newcastle player Woodgate has been plagued by injury problems through his career but insists he is fit, despite not playing in the 1-0 victory over Liverpool on Saturday.
He added: "I'm good. I didn't play at the weekend. I didn't want to risk playing with an injury.
"I've done that in the past and it's turned into a bigger one."
The ex-Real Madrid defender revealed it was Pulis who persuaded him to join the Staffordshire club.
"[Tony] said the lads are top-notch and it's a great club with great supporters," said Woodgate.
"As soon as I spoke to him I thought, 'He really wants me, he's taking a chance on me. He seems really keen to have me'.
"When you're wanted, it's a good thing, especially when you've been injured."
Stoke lie fifth in the Premier League after an unbeaten start to the season with two wins and two draws.
Woodgate said: "I think it's [a club] on the up but we shouldn't get carried away.
"We're playing really well. We're in Europe, we've got the FA Cup and League Cup. It's going to be a long, hard season."
