Whelan, who has become a key component of the City side in 2009 was signed from Sheffield Wednesday in January 2008 for a bargain £500,000 and has since become a full Irish international, being described by the Republic boss Giovanni Trapattoni as 'my Gattuso'. Whelan has missed juist one game during Trapattoni's reign, last weeks friendly win over South Africa, where fellow Potter Liam Lawrence scored the games only goal, as Whelan was rested.
Whelan brought up a half century of Potters appearances in the weekend's defeat to Chelsea. His finest individual moment so far was a 22-yard screamer to grab a last ditch equaliser at Villa Park, completing the Potters comeback from 2-0 down with five minutes to go.