 He played in all but three matches in 1997–98 as Stoke suffered relegation to the third tier.he played 43 times in 1998–99 as Stoke failed to gain promotion and he was sold to West Bromwich Albion in August 1999 for a fee of £350,000 after making 228 appearances for Stoke.He scored once for Albion, his goal coming in a 5–0 win over Portsmouth on 23 February 2002.