RORY DELAP WILL remain a Potter for one more season after he put pen to paper on a 12-month contract extension with Stoke City.

The Republic of Ireland international, who has been at the Britannia Stadium since October 2006, has agreed a new deal which will run until the summer of 2013.

Delap, 35, has played over 200 games for Stoke since joining from Sunderland, coinciding with a run in which the club clinched a return to the Premier League in 2008 and then consolidated their top-flight status.

“Rory deserves this deal; it is important we look after those players who have been here since the start of this journey,” manager Tony Pulis told the official website.

Pulis also stressed that Delap’s contribution reaches far beyond the booming long throw-ins for which he became famous.

It’s not just what he does on the field; he’s been an inspiration off the pitch as well. He has played close to 600 games during his playing career, and the vast majority of those have been in the top-flight and so he has offers so much more than just a long throw.

He is the ultimate professional and it is important we look after certain players at the Football Club who started all this off.

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