Stoke City skipper Glenn Whelan admits the players told eachother some home truths after Saturday's FA Cup defeat at Blackburn Rovers.
The Potters were thumped 4-1.
Whelan told The Sentinel: "We've sat down and had words between ourselves but that will stay within the dressing room. It's not nice coming away from a 4-1 defeat to Manchester City in mid-week but you think ok, it's the champions. Not against Blackburn, no disrespect. They fully deserved to win and I don't think they had to work very hard to get it.
"What the manager has said will stay in the dressing room. Things have been got off chests. It doesn't matter how good a player you are if you are not prepared to put the work in; the hard yards and the graft. If you don't do that then you don't deserve to be wearing the jersey.
"Hopefully in the next week some lads will have to reflect on that."
